Until the Boom
by abbyfillion22
Summary: Castle visits his Aunt Mary, a psychic who can predict death. After Aunt Mary has a premonition of the entire world ending, Castle has to convince the ones he loves to move into a bomb shelter for the last hours of their lives in the hope of saving them.
1. Chapter 1

**0:24:00:00 until the Boom**

"We have one day left in this life," said the woman.

Castle stared at the strange woman who was grasping his hand.

She had dark sunken eyes and baggy skin that looked like old leather. Her silvery hair ran down her back in a tangled attempt at a braid. Bird feathers of various sizes and colors were woven into the "braid" and as he watched her, one of them came loose and floated to the floor. She wore a wool cardigan even though it was the middle of summer and torn jeans that dragged along the ground when she was pushed in her wheelchair.

This was Great Aunt Mary.

Aunt Mary, like a lot of Castle's ancestors, was a psychic.

* * *

**1:04:55:20 until the Boom**

"When I was a child," said Martha during breakfast, "we would go to Aunt Mary's house with my father. We kids never liked it there because she was always burning this strange-smelling incense and it was so musty in her house. One day, Aunt Mary took me by the hand," she took Castle's hand and lowered her voice. "Her eyes went blank and she told me that the next day, my goldfish would die. And guess what happened."

"Your goldfish died," stated Castle, not really paying attention as he shoveled eggs into his mouth.

"My goldfish died," Martha repeated dramatically with a wave of the hand. "My father said that Aunt Mary can predict death but nothing else."

"Fascinating story, Mother," said Castle as he put his coat on. He planned to visit his aunt later that night to do research on the life of a psychic for a new Nikki Heat novel he was working on. In it, Detective Heat would meet a fortune teller that would predict Jamison Rook's eminent death. He would call it Future Heat. Or something like that, he hadn't put much thought into the title.

"Don't let her tell you your death date, it will only make you paranoid, dear," said Martha, patting his hand.

Castle smirked. "Mother, please. It's me we're talking about. I'm always paranoid."

* * *

**1:04:32:12 until the Boom**

"You're really going to see a psychic?" asked Beckett after taking her latte from him.

Castle sank down in his usual desk-side chair. The cushion now had his permanent butt indentation from sitting in it so often. "She's my great aunt," he said in his defense.

Beckett put down the file she was reading. "I thought you said your family was full of swindlers and phonies," she said accusingly.

"Swindlers, phonies, psychics, and mind readers," Castle corrected her. "None of those categories cross-reference."

"So which one are you?" she asked teasingly as she opened her filing cabinet.

Castle chuckled. "I am the rare few on my family tree that falls under none of the above."

"What's up, bro?" asked Esposito as he and Ryan entered the pen. He sat down on the edge of Beckett's desk and started to play with one of her elephant figurines.

"Castle's going to see a psychic," Beckett informed them, taking the elephant from him.

"Is that so?" asked Ryan, curiously.

Esposito tapped Castle on the shoulder. "Dude, ask her who my future wife is."

"Ask her if Jenny and I will always be together," Ryan inputted quickly.

They all stared at Ryan with slightly disgusted looks.

Ryan blushed and glanced away.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, fellas," said Castle. "But according to my mother, Aunt Mary only predicts death."

"That's so cool," said Esposito. "So is she going to tell you when you're going to die?"

Ryan wrinkled his brow. "I don't think I'd want to know, do you?"

Esposito thought for a moment. "I'd want to know. Then I can make sure I do everything I wanted to by then."

"I know_ exactly _when you're going to die, Esposito," said Beckett, haphazardly flipping through a folder.

They looked at her to see if she was joking.

"You're going to die in exactly thirty seconds unless you get your ass off my desk," she said sternly.

He slowly stood and backed away from her.

Castle gave her a pitying look. "Beckett doesn't believe in the other-worldly powers deal… or anything else that can't be explained by hard facts and evidence."

She rolled her eyes. "C'mon, Castle, we've already had this discussion-"

"That psychic, Penny, predicted that someone named 'Alexander' was going to save your life," Ryan pointed out. He stuck his thumb out at Castle.

"I still think that it was just a coincidence," said Beckett.

Castle held his finger up to silence her. "Remember you said that you don't believe in coincidences either!"

"Yeah, in _murder_ investigations," she said. She couldn't believe that they were even wasting time discussing this.

"Do you believe in _anything, _Beckett?" asked Esposito. "You must believe in love at first sight because that's what happened with you and writer boy."

The three men snickered at each other and exchanged knowing glances.

Beckett glared at them. "It was _not _love at first sight. And anyways, whether or not I believe in love at first sight or not doesn't justify why I don't believe that people can see into the future. It's just not possible. You had to meet the person you fell in love with for the first time at some time. Whether you know then or a year later that you're in love with them is beside the point."

"Or four years later," Ryan coughed into his sleeve.

She gave a surly stare.

Castle jumped in before she could rip their throats out. "It doesn't matter if I believe in psychics or not, it's just for hypothetical research."

"So 'hypothetically', if you find out when you're going to die…" said Esposito.

"It won't matter," Castle said, looking Beckett in the eye. "I already accomplished the number one thing on my bucket list." He leaned over her desk for a kiss.

She held her hand up in front of his face. "Boundaries, Castle," she reminded him, glancing over at Gates' office.

* * *

**0:23:59:50 until the Boom**

He cleared his throat. "Come again?"

"We have one day left in this life," Aunt Mary repeated. She seemed to be in a deep trance; only vaguely aware of what was going on.

He leaned closer to her over the table. "What? How?"

Aunt Mary stared straight ahead and muttered, "the boom."

Castle pressed the old woman for more details. "What's that? What's the boom?"

Aunt Mary's head turned slowly towards him, finally looking him in the eye. "We're all going to die… One day left in this life… One day left," she mumbled.

Castle yanked his hand from her grasp.

Immediately, Aunt Mary broke out of her strange trance and blinked hard. She looked around her, confused.

He stared at her with wide eyes.

Aunt Mary's gaze landed on him after getting her bearings. "Who are you?!" she sputtered.

Castle tried to speak, but no words came out.

Aunt Mary went into a frenzy. "HELP! HELLLLLP! PO-LICE! PO-LICE!" she yelled. "THERE'S A STRANGE MAN IN MY HOUSE! HELLLLLP! PO-LICE!" She pronounced "police" like "Poe lease" and "help" like "hell puh".

He panicked. "No, no, no, Aunt Mary, it's me! It's Richard, your grand nephew!" he said, desperately trying to calm the hysterical old woman.

One of the retirement home nurses came bursting into the room and consoled Aunt Mary. "It's okay, Mrs. Rogers! It's Richard, remember Richard?" The nurse pointed to him.

Castle nervously waved his hand. "Hi, I'm Richard," he grimaced.

Aunt Mary stopped screaming long enough to talk to the nurse. "I don't know no Richard!" she grumbled. "HELLLLLP! PO-LICE!"

The nurse gave him a sympathetic look. "I'm so sorry," she mouthed as she wheeled Aunt Mary out of the room.

Castle was frozen in his chair, gripping the arms so hard his knuckles turned white. "Wait!" he yelled after the nurse.

"HELLLLP! PO-LICE!"

"Yes, Mr. Castle?" the nurse said politely. She laid a hand on Aunt Mary's shoulder and willed her to calm down a tad.

"Aunt Mary, she…" he swallowed hard.

"Yes?" the nurse urged.

"She said that we're all going to die in twenty four hours," he spat out.

The nurse tensed. "Oh," she said, looking down at Aunt Mary. "Don't worry about it, she says those things sometimes."

"Like when residents are about to die?" Castle prodded. He thought about what his mother had told him earlier that morning about her goldfish. What if she was right?

The nurse glanced from Aunt Mary to Castle. "How did you…" she shook her head. "She's hardly ever right. She thinks she's a psychic because she makes these crazy predictions."

Castle's jaw went slack.

"She's hardly ever right," the nurse repeated hurriedly. "Bye!" she said, making an about face and walking away as fast as she could.

* * *

**0:21:49:21 until the Boom**

Castle sat in silence. The loft was completely empty besides him and the quiet made him anxious.

Could Aunt Mary really predict death? Could there be an apocalypse in the next… he checked his watch, twenty-one hours, forty-nine minutes, and twenty one (twenty, nineteen, eighteen, seventeen) seconds? How is that even possible? How can everyone be alive one moment and not the next?

And what was the Boom? It must be how the world will end; some big explosion at the earth's core that will wipe out civilization or a widespread nuclear bomb.

Castle shook himself. He was just being paranoid; listening to the premonition of a crazy old lady.

Then he remembered his mother's goldfish and became worried all over again.

He tapped his fingers on the table and looked at his watch again. If Aunt Mary was right, he had twenty one hours, forty-eight minutes, and ten seconds left to live. What was he doing sitting at home with that much time left?

Kate would be home in five minutes then he would get to work.

In the meantime, Castle made a list.

**Things to do before "the Boom"**

1.) Go to confession and get cleaned of sins

2.) Buy a bomb shelter

3.) Stock the bomb shelter

4.) Get everyone you love into the bomb shelter

5.) Have sex with Kate

6.) Move #1 to after #5

7.) Survive the Boom

8.) Rule the AfterEarth

He reviewed the list, folded it up, and stuck it in his pocket. He waited for Kate.

* * *

**0:21:44:07**

She opened the front door and found Castle sitting in a daze on the couch. He was staring at the television but it wasn't on.

"What's up?" she asked hesitantly.

He blinked, not looking up from the blank screen. "Nothing," he muttered.

She hung her coat and sat down next to him.

He didn't react when she began unbuttoning his shirt. She nibbled on his lower lip, but he never moved a muscle. He usually went crazy with lust when she did this.

She sat back on her knees and sighed. "Okay, what's wrong?"

"We're all going to die!" he blurted out.

Kate groaned and got to her feet. "It was your aunt, wasn't it? Castle, there's no such thing as psychics." She went to the kitchen to pour herself a scotch. If she was going to have to deal with paranoia-stricken Rick tonight, she would need a drink first. "I knew you shouldn't have gone to see her," she muttered.

"This could be serious, Kate!" Rick insisted. He retold his mother's goldfish story.

She rolled her eyes. "Goldfish have a life expectancy of about a week. It doesn't take a psychic to know that."

She handed him a glass which he knocked back in about a second.

He cleared his throat. "What if she's right and the world is going to end in less than twenty-two hours?!"

Kate was sitting nonchalantly at the counter as Castle paced around her. "She's wrong, Castle. The world isn't going to end."

"But what if she's right?"

Kate thought about this for a moment. He had a point; technically, anything is possible. But she wasn't about to have a mental breakdown over something his ancient aunt had told him. She gulped down her drink and sighed. "Okay, what's it going to take for you to get over this?"

He took both of her hands in his. "Kate, I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, and if the world ends tomorrow, I would accomplish that. But I want more time with you. Six years isn't enough. A hundred years isn't enough."

"Castle, the world is not going to end." She stated finitely.

He rubbed his nose with the back of his hand. "It's better to be safe than sorry," he said quietly.

"You're not going to be able to relax until this is over," said Kate, accepting this fact.

He shook his head. "Nope."


	2. Chapter 2

**0:21:14:01 until the Boom**

Kate's phone vibrated in her back pocket. She waved the screen teasingly under Castle's nose. "Sorry, I can't play Survive the Boom with you, kitten. I have a case I need to solve."

His jaw went slack and he began to protest.

Kate grabbed his wrist to check the time. "Don't worry; we still have twenty-one hours left. I think we can solve a case in that time, don't you?"

"But-"

She put her jacket on and took his off the coat rack and held it out to him. "Tell you what," she compromised. "I'll solve the case and you go figure out how we're going to survive the apocalypse." It took all of her willpower not to laugh.

Castle shook his head. "I'm coming with you. But we have to be somewhere safe by the time my watch reaches one hour until the Boom."

She hid a smile. "Deal. Now c'mon, we're burning our last hours."

He detected the sarcasm in her tone. "This is serious, Kate!" he reminded her as she took his car keys and headed out the door.

"I know!" she shouted over her shoulder.

He buttoned up his coat and hurried after her.

* * *

**0:20:53:23 until the Boom**

"Can you drop me off at the Mueller's?" asked Castle. The Mueller was the local convenience store down the street from the 12th.

Kate glanced at him but kept her eyes glued to the road. "Why?"

"I need to pick up some things," Castle said. "I'll meet you back at the precinct once you're done at the scene."

"Fine," Kate agreed, not asking anything else about his erratic behavior because she knew it would end poorly. As they approached the Mueller, she slowly eased the cruiser out of traffic and onto the curb; something she could do because of her police plates. "Don't do anything crazy, Crazy," she muttered as he climbed out.

Castle gave her a small salute as she drove off.

He pulled his Things to Do Before the Boom list. What sorts of things did one buy for an apocalypse?

* * *

**0:20:44:12 until the Boom**

Beckett met Esposito and Ryan as they approached the crime scene outside of Romano's Deli. The deli was a frequent of the precinct's uniforms and was famous for their coldcuts and turkeymelts.

"Where's Castle?" asked Ryan. It was rare to see Beckett without her trusty sidekick.

"Crazytown," she said vaguely.

They looked for an explanation before ducking under the police tape.

"Castle's aunt told him the world is ending in…" she read her watch, "twenty hours and forty-four minutes."

Ryan's eyes grew wide. "It is?!"

She and Esposito shook their heads in pity of Ryan's naïve disposition and started walking towards the body.

Ryan stuck his arm out to stop them. "Castle's aunt is a psychic, right?"

Beckett rolled her eyes. "Yeah but-"

"She predicted the end of the world!" said Ryan, running his hand nervously through his hair. "I gotta warn Jenny, we're finally having a baby after trying for so long…"

"Okay, Castle Junior," said Esposito. "You go do that."

Ryan brushed off the insult and hurried off to call his wife. "Hi honey, the Castle's psychic aunt says that the world is going to end tomorrow and I really think we need to take precautionary measures…"

"Man," Esposito said, "can you believe that?"

Beckett glanced at Ryan who was busy explaining to Jenny why they should get to a shelter. "What? That the world's ending or that Castle and Ryan believe it? Neither."

"Us realists gotta stick together in these crazy times, Beckett."

She agreed. "What've we got, Lanie?"

Doctor Lanie Parish was crouched down next to a tarp-covered corpse. She occasionally lifted the sheet to glance at the body but for the most part, she tried to keep her eyes on her notes.

When Lanie pulled the tarp away, they all understood why she didn't want to stare too long. The woman's body was barely recognizable. She was cut to ribbons and scraps of her skin flapped in the wind; barely attached to the rest of the body. She still had her street clothes on but whatever exposed skin there was (arms, legs, face) oozed blood. Her forearm where it was the least cut was the worst. A sheet of skin from her wrist to elbow had been partially removed and was folded back to expose the tender flesh.

Beckett flinched and looked away; trying to keep her dinner down.

Esposito covered his face with his palm. "God, what the hell happened?"

"You tell me," said Lanie. "All I know is that this was the murder weapon." Dr. Parish held up an electric meat slicer covered in red. "It was found in the back of the deli. I tested it and it's definitely her blood."

"Do we have an ID?" asked Beckett, turning her body sideways so she didn't have to look at the victim. This was one of the worst crimes she had seen thus far and she had seen some things that would have made Stephen King cringe.

"Natalia Jackson," said Lanie, handing her the small patterned wristlet with the driver's license in the front window. "Age 29 of Greenwich Village."

"What was she doing way out here?" asked Esposito when Beckett handed him the ID for him to see.

Lanie shrugged.

Beckett anxiously pushed her hair behind her ear and looked at the sky then the horizon; anything to distract her from the mangled body. "Time of death?"

"I'm not positive but by the amount of blood she's lost I'd say around 3:30 and 4:00," said Lanie. "I'll have to run some more tests to be certain though."

"Okay, get it back to the morgue," said Beckett.

Lanie hesitated. "It's not going to get there in one piece. She's cut straight to the other side in some places," she shook her head and clucked her tongue. "That poor girl."

Esposito moved to put a comforting arm around her. "It's okay-"

Lanie jerked out of his reach. "Imma smack you," she warned when he gave her an innocent look.

Beckett turned away to hide her smile.

Lanie tucked her clipboard under her arm and stormed away in a huff.

"Shut up," Esposito snapped, seeing Beckett's smirk. "What does she want from me? I try being nice and she shoots me down every time."

"Maybe she just wants someone who'll listen. Have you ever tried that?" Beckett suggested.

Esposito stopped and squinted into the distance; his thinking face. He shook his head. "Nah, that's not it."

Why were all of the guys acting like idiots today? Maybe it was something in the water.

* * *

**0:20:09:03 until the Boom**

Castle lugged a cardboard box into the precinct and set it down on top of Beckett's desk. She and the boys weren't back from the scene yet so he sat down in her chair. He didn't dare open a drawer to get a pen because she could be back any second and she would pull his hair out if he touched her stuff.

He had stopped by a church on his way over and was absolved of his many sins. His friend had a bomb shelter that had belonged to his great grandfather during the war and Castle had paid him $100 to let him use it. It was located ten feet below the ground in the middle of a corn field outside of the city. So far, he had accomplished the first three things on his to do list.

The difficult part would be convincing Martha and Alexis to come with them. He knew that Alexis would be opposed to it because she had a standardized test tomorrow morning that she couldn't miss. Martha was just plain stubborn and Castle couldn't imagine being trapped in a small bunker with his mother during the apocalypse.

Kate better hurry up or they wouldn't have the case solved by the Boom.

* * *

**0:20:07:56 until the Boom**

"Finally," said Castle when Beckett and Esposito joined him.

Beckett kicked him out of her chair. "Castle, what the hell is this?" She unfolded the lids of the box and began sorting through his stock.

Esposito looked over her shoulder.

Castle grinned proudly and leaned back in his chair. "Everything we'll need to survive the boom."

She found a small supply of canned food, water bottles, two gas masks, a hunting knife, and… condoms? She held the box up and raised her eyebrows.

"Oh," he said sheepishly. "Well I figured that if we're the only ones left alive, we'll need to repopulate the AfterEarth."

"And the way to do that is with condoms?" asked Beckett.

Castle thought for a minute. "Yeah, you're right." He took the box from her and tossed them to Esposito.

Esposito gratefully took the box and shoved it in his desk drawer. "What's the AfterEarth?"

"That's what I'm calling the world post-Boom," Castle explained.

"Are you serious?" said Esposito. "You're really going to prepare for an apocalypse?"

"Really," Castle said. "Now get working on that case, Beckett and I need to be in the burbs in…" he checked his watch for the millionth time. "…twenty hours and six minutes."

"We're still waiting for Lanie to run some tests," said Esposito. "You missed it, bro, the crime was definitely Castle-esque."

"Gory?" Castle asked like a dog begging for a treat.

"Very," said Beckett.

Castle shook his head. "I miss all of the good ones! What do you know so far?"

"Natalia Jackson age 29 of Greenwich. She was found outside Romano's deli-" said Beckett, filling out the paperwork.

"Let me guess," said Castle. "The murder weapon is… a butcher knife?"

Beckett and Esposito shook their heads.

"No don't tell me," Castle said, "a cheese slicer?"

"Close," said Beckett.

"Meat slicer."

"Bingo," said Esposito. "She was shredded up pretty bad, bro. It looked like something out of your books."

"I'm sorry I missed it," said Castle. "Any prints on the weapon?"

"That's what Lanie's working on right now," said Beckett right as Dr. Parish texted her to come to the morgue.

LANIE PARISH: Tests r done, don't bring Javi.

KATE BECKETT: Y?

LANIE PARISH: …I'll tell u l8r

KATE BECKETT: Fine :P

LANIE PARISH: thx ;p

"Why don't you do a background check on Natalia while Castle and I go see the body?" Beckett told Esposito.

Espo saw right threw her front. "That's cool, I get it, Lanie doesn't want me to be around her while she's working." He sat down heavily in his chair and sulked.

"Something going on with you guys?" asked Castle.

"No," said Esposito. "She's just being difficult."

Castle nodded, understanding what was happening. "Ah."

Beckett glared at them. "Maybe you should try _talking_. A relationship based only on sex isn't a relationship, you know."

"It's not?" Castle joked. He and Espo high fived.

Beckett rolled her eyes. "Y'know, Castle, just for that, you can't come see the body with me."

Castle's jaw dropped, "Come on, Beckett, I was just kidding!" he said to her back. He really wanted to see the corpse. "Please?"

"Nope," she said. "Stay."

Castle huffed and sat down next to Esposito. They stared at each other.

"You should buy her flowers," Castle mused.

* * *

**0:20:04:00 until the Boom**

"Hey, Lanie, what do you have?" asked Beckett as she entered the morgue. She had put on scrubs and protective glasses for the first time in years because of how messy the corpse was. The plastic covering her eyes were as scratchy as ever and clouded her vision.

The deceased Natalia was more or less cleaned up and Lanie had rearranged her skin in a relatively normal position over her bled-out body. She looked like something out of a slasher movie.

"There were no prints on the meat slicer but I did find traces of talcum powder like from medical gloves. Whoever did this had planned ahead," said Lanie, showing the magnified particles on a petri dish. "This was also stuck to her skin," she held up a small baggie with two blonde hairs. "I ran DNA on it but it's artificial."

Beckett took the hairs. "A wig?"

"Yup. I found three different sets of prints on her body but they're kind of shifty because of how much she's cut up. Most of the prints were split in places." Lanie handed her the list of names. "No signs of sexual assault."

Jordan White, Alicia Potts, and Peter Hough all of Greenwich Village.

* * *

**0:20:00:34 until the Boom**

"Do any of these names show up in Natalia's background?" Beckett asked, handing Esposito the list of names.

"I recognize Jordan White, he's Natalia's fiancé," said Esposito, turning his computer monitor in her direction.

Castle's watched beeped twenty times and made him shift anxiously.

He had uncovered a photo of Natalia before the accident. She had beautiful bleach blonde hair and striking green eyes. The picture was taken in front of a soccer goal with a thirty-something male standing at her hip. The man, who Beckett presumed to be Jordan, was a good half foot taller than Natalia and wore a NYU Soccer jersey with the number 22 on it.

"Any motive there?" asked Beckett.

"Check out her Facebook," Castle told Esposito.

He clicked on the blue and white window.

Natalia_Jackson: Jordan & I r taking a break. Relationship Status: It's complicated

"Looks like Jordan didn't want to take a break," Beckett muttered. She scrolled through pictures of Jordan. He had the same colored blonde hair as the hairs found on Natalia's body but his hair didn't look fake. "All right, bring him in," she told Esposito.

"Uniforms are picking him up now," Esposito nodded.

* * *

**0:19:55:23 until the Boom**

"Hi Daddy," said Alexis when she picked up her phone.

"Hey pumpkin," said Castle nonchalantly, "guess what Beckett and I are doing tomorrow."

"What?"

"We're going to hide out in an underground bomb shelter!" he said like he was saying they were going base jumping off of the Eifel Tower.

Alexis paused. "Sounds… fun?"

"You're coming with us," he stated.

She laughed. "No, I'm not. Remember, I have that test tomorrow?"

"But, sweetheart-"

"Daddy, what's this about? It's late and I need to study," Alexis said, sounding exasperated.

"The world's going to end tomorrow in a big boom!" said Castle. He described his visit with Aunt Mary.

"The world is _not _going to end," said Alexis. She then proceeded to give him a ten minute lecture on the scientific reasons why the world could not simply "end."

* * *

**0:19:45:22 until the Boom**

"-and then the electrons and protons would have to coincide without neutrons and that's just not genetically possible," Alexis concluded. "And that's why the world will not end tomorrow, okay? I have to go, love you, Daddy!"

"Wait-"

"Bye!" she hung up.

Castle got to his feet and put his coat on.

"Where are you going?" asked Beckett who was browsing Natalia's Facebook while they waited for Jordan.

"I'm going to her dorm and tie her up to take with us," said Castle as he turned to leave.

Beckett grabbed him. "You're not going to do that."

"Watch me," Castle said, trying to pry her iron grip from his arm.

"I'm not going to let you," said Beckett. She reached into her desk and took out a pair of handcuffs.

Castle groaned and tried to escape but Beckett held fast. "I'm not going to let her die!"

"You're not going to keep her from taking a huge test because you think the Earth is going to explode," said Beckett.

"If she dies, it won't matter if she takes the test or not!" he protested.

"If she doesn't, it will!" Beckett countered as she slapped the cuff on his wrist. She locked the other cuff onto her desk drawer.

Esposito cackled at him.

"Shut up," Castle snapped.

"I'll let you out when you can behave," said Beckett, sitting down again and pushing her hair out of her face.

Castle groaned and sat awkwardly in his chair; his right arm stretched around the corner of the desk. He scooted the chair closer to the drawer to get more comfortable.

Esposito tapped Beckett. "There he is."

Two uniforms were escorting Jordan White into the precinct.

They both stood and made their way to the interrogation room.

"Guys!" Castle shouted after them. "I want to come!"

They ignored him; completely focused on their target.

"He put up a fight," said one of the uniforms. "Somehow he knew that Natalia was killed tonight."

"Is it public information yet?" asked Beckett.

The cop shook his head. "No."

"Okay, thanks," said Esposito, holding the door open for Beckett.

She strode confidently into the room and sat across from Jordan. "Hello, Mr. White. I understand that you already know why you're here."

Jordan was stone faced. He had long athletic legs that didn't quite fit under the table and white-blonde hair that hung in front of his stubble-lined face. His teeth were too white to be natural and his bright blue eyes were obviously thanks to colored contacts. Everything about him seemed fake.

"Your fiancé was killed tonight," Esposito continued.

"Did she suffer?" Jordan said in a low growl.

"Yes," Beckett said straight-up. She wasn't the kind of cop to sugar-coat things. Sometimes the truth was the biggest comfort.

Jordan nodded. "Good."

"Excuse me?" said Esposito.

"I said good. The bitch deserved it," said Jordan, sweeping his hair away from his forehead.

Beckett and Esposito exchanged glances.

"Why?" asked Esposito.

"She spent all of my money and left me in the dust to cover the bills," said Jordan.

"That must have made you so mad," said Beckett.

Jordan grinned. "I didn't kill her, detective. She may have deserved it, but I didn't do it."

"How did you know she was dead then?" asked Esposito.

"A little birdie told me," Jordan chuckled. "I have friends in the PD."

Beckett jumped to the chase. "Where were you between 3:30 and 4:00 this afternoon?"

Jordan frowned. He had thought that name-dropping his friend at the 12th would get him out of this. "At home."

"Can anyone vouch for that?" asked Esposito.

Jordan looked at his lap. "No. I was there alone."

Beckett shuffled her papers. "It's not looking too good for you, Jordan."

"I know," he said. "But I have the perfect alibi because I didn't do it."

"You just said you didn't have an alibi," said Esposito.

"Exactly."

Beckett thought for a moment. Jordan was obviously trying to confuse them. "We're going to go ahead and check your phone records," she said as she collected her things and stood up.

Jordan tensed.

"You don't have a problem with that, do you?" asked Beckett, towering over the suspect.

"No," said Jordan with a nervous grin.

* * *

**0:19:29:10 until the Boom**

They ran into Castle outside the interrogation room; watching from behind the mirror. "Hey," he chirped, raising his right wrist. He was still cuffed to the drawer handle but the drawer was no longer attached to Beckett's desk. He wiggled his eyebrows.

Beckett rolled her eyes and folded the file under her arm. "What?"

"He didn't do it," said Castle.

"How do you know?" asked Esposito, gesturing to Jordan. "Did you see how shifty he was?"

"It's way too obvious," Castle said. "It doesn't make a good story."

"So what _is _the story?" Beckett countered.

"The way you were describing the murder, it was pretty nasty. That means that we're dealing with a cold-blooded killer," Castle explained. "Jordan is way too close to Natalia to do something so out in the open. And even if he did, he would be more careful about getting caught. He wouldn't slice her up like cheese and then go back to his apartment to wait to be arrested. He would go on the run."

"He makes a good point," said Esposito.

"We can't go on a theory," Beckett reasoned. "All the evidence points to him. Now there's one way to be sure it's him and that's to pull his hair-piece off. Too bad he's not wearing one." She told them about the hairs Lanie had found.

"Just because it was on the body, doesn't mean they belong to the killer," said Castle.

"I thought about that too," said Beckett. "But maybe whoever's wig it belongs to will help us piece this together."

"Jordan seemed upset about his phone records so I'm going to look into that," Esposito said, taking the file from Beckett and leaving.

When they were alone, Castle reminded Kate that they only had nineteen hours left.

"Don't pressure me," she snapped, emancipating him from the cuffs.


	3. Chapter 3

**0:19:00:00 until the Boom**

"Yo, Beckett," Esposito called to her. He held up a folder and tossed it to her. "Phone records. Looks like the last person Natalia texted was Jordan." He pulled out a glossy sheet from the file. "Check it."

Jordan: Meet me Romano's 4 lunch.

Natalia: I'm busy, sorry

Jordan: No you're not. You want spend your lunch break with Vincent.

Natalia: I thought we talked about this. V is just my boss.

Jordan: Yeah right. I'll c u Romano's.

Natalia: Fine.

"That last text was at 12:20. Jordan could have easily lured her there, killed her, and waited until nighttime to drag the body out," said Beckett.

Castle took the screenshot from her. "It looks like Jordan was a little jealous of "Vincent"".

Beckett thought about the texts. "But if he was planning on killing her, he wouldn't leave a traceable text that would point all evidence to him."

"Maybe he's not that bright?" Esposito suggested.

Castle folded the paper. "Remember when 3XK was trying to frame me?"

They nodded.

"Every single piece of evidence was pointing to me, but I was innocent. This could be the same scenario," Castle reasoned. Thinking about 3XK sent a shudder through his core.

"Not every killer is as cunning as 3XK," said Beckett. She moved to the murder board. "I don't think Jordan did it. It's too… easy."

"The other suspects are being brought in now," Esposito said. He read the names off the list. "Alicia Potts and Peter Hough. It took a while to track Hough down; uniforms found him passed out in a drainage ditch."

Officer Smith walked past them escorting Alicia Potts. She had dark brown hair that definitely wasn't a wig and tan skin. Her silver hoop earrings were the size of DVDs and looked twice as heavy. But the curious thing about Alicia Potts was her vest. It was a faux fur one that fell mid-thigh that was the same color hair as the one found on the victim.

Castle noticed this too and pointed it out to Esposito. He nodded and went to talk to Lanie about it.

Beckett grabbed Castle by the sleeve and took him into interrogation with her.

Alicia was smoothing out her hair when they entered. "What's this about?" she demanded, pounding her fist into the table. "I didn't kill no one!"

"I'm not going to beat around the bush," said Beckett, circling the table once before settling into her chair.

Castle was briefly reminded of a terrier turning in its bed before lying down.

"Where were you between 3:30 and 4 yesterday afternoon?" asked Beckett.

Alicia crossed her arms. "I wasn't anywhere! I was at home!"

Castle smirked. "At home" was just a sure sign of guilt. "Can anyone vouch for that?"

Alicia glanced around. "Um… maybe. I think my doorman saw me. But I'm not sure, he was on the phone when I came in."

Beckett nodded. "I noticed that your vest is shedding." She wrinkled her nose at the blonde and brown pieces of fur coming off of Alicia as she wiped her palms on it. "Is it new?"

Alicia fiddled with the interior buttons. "Yeah, so?"

Castle nonchalantly took the handkerchief out of his lapel and swept some of the hair into it for Lanie to run tests on. "Is it real?"

Alicia glared at him. "No. I'm not about to have the ASPCA on my ass about it."

"So how do you know Natalia Jackson?" Beckett asked, keeping them on subject.

Alicia blinked and then swallowed hard. "Who?" she asked, her voice cracking.

Castle knew that Alicia wouldn't be winning any Oscars any time soon. She was the worst liar he had ever met.

Beckett rolled her eyes. "Natalia Jackson. You were with her yesterday."

Alicia looked incredulous. "How do you know?!"

"We found your prints on her body," said Beckett.

"Her body… she's dead?" Alicia asked, looking shocked.

"So you knew her?" said Castle.

Alicia looked taken aback; like she had just unintentionally let something slip. "Yes. No. We just met yesterday."

"Where did you meet?" asked Beckett. She began sifting her papers back into the folder; anticipating a short confession.

Alicia thought for a second. "Some deli in Greenwich Natalia asked me to meet her at."

Castle glanced at Beckett. _Natalia _had provoked the meeting?

"What time was that?" asked Beckett, clicking her pen.

"Noon," said Alicia without hesitating.

"That's around the time Natalia was supposed to meet Jordan," Castle whispered.

Alicia leaned forwards. "Natalia wasn't meeting Jordan. Natalia never met Jordan before!"

This story is getting good, thought Castle.

Beckett folded her hands. "Natalia was dating Jordan."

Alicia looked from side to side. "No. Jordan was _my _boyfriend."

"Ooh," Castle said, liking the soap opera- like plotline this case was turning into.

Beckett held the folder up between them and Alicia. "Why would Natalia agree to meet Jordan at the same time and place as she was supposed to meet Alicia?"

Castle chewed his lower lip. "Maybe Natalia found out about Alicia and wanted to confront Jordan about it."

Beckett put the story together. "So when she got there, Natalia met Alicia in the back room before Jordan got there and intended for them to rally together against their cheating boyfriend."

"Alicia got angry at Natalia instead and grabbed the thing closest to her which was the meat slicer and attacked her with it," Castle finished her thought.

Alicia slammed her palm into the table. "You two honestly think that I would do something like that to Natalia?! I saw those pictures on my way in here; I would _never_ hurt someone like that."

"But you don't deny you met with her?" asked Castle.

"No. I _was _there," said Alicia, "but I did _not _kill her."

Beckett leaned over her. "And how do we know that?"

Alicia licked her lips. "I don't know; ask Jordan."

"I'm sure he'd be happy to lie for you," said Beckett. This story was getting harder and harder for her to follow and she wasn't ready to complicate it any further. It was turning into a bad soap opera-like murder with all of these cheating boyfriends and girlfriends.

Alicia shrugged. "Ask the Romano guy; Natalia and I both ordered sandwiches."

"What kind?" Castle asked out of pure curiosity. He had seen Romano's Deli featured on Guy's Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives before and he heard that they made the best pastramis.

Beckett shot him a 'now's not the time' look.

Castle shrugged. "It can't hurt to ask."

"Um…" Alicia thought. "I got a coldcut and Natalia got a veggie-lover."

"Was it good?" asked Castle. He received a blow to the ribs from Beckett's sharp elbow.

"Yeah," Alicia replied.

"Thanks, Ms. Potts, that's all we need," Beckett said, moving towards the door.

"Whoa, wait, really?" asked Castle. He didn't recall Alicia giving up any worthwhile evidence besides her lunch preferences.

"Really," said Beckett. "Thanks."

Alicia and Castle looked at each other; Alicia no doubt trying to figure out what she had inadvertently confessed.

Castle shrugged. "Um… don't leave town." He hurried after Beckett.

* * *

**00:18:40:12 until the Boom**

"What did you get?" he asked, back at her desk.

"Alicia's lying and Natalia never showed up at Romano's," Beckett said, pulling up Natalia's information on her computer.

"How do you know?" Castle asked, moving his chair behind her so he could watch.

She clicked on the phone records. "When Lanie did a full biopsy, she found out the last thing that Natalia ate was a chicken soup. Alicia said that Natalia got a vegetarian."

"Why does that matter?"

"Because," said Beckett. "Look." She pointed to the last Twitter page Natalia had been on. It was Jordan White's profile; showing a recent Tweet featuring Jordan and Alicia chowing down on subs with the Romano's Deli in the background. Natalia was not in the rendezvous.

"Why would Alicia lie about meeting her?" asked Castle.

"Alicia is covering for the real killer," said Beckett. "Natalia was murdered before this photo was taken, notice the time tag."

"Natalia's body could have been stored someplace in the back and then thrown out into the streets later," Castle realized.

"Exactly. And remember how Natalia said that she couldn't meet Jordan because she had "plans"?" asked Beckett. "Alicia was her other plans. When we ran Natalia's phone records, there was nothing there to Alicia. Alicia contacted her in person and scheduled the setup. I doubt that Natalia even knew that Jordan was cheating then."

"Brilliant," Castle said. "So Alicia's in on it, and she lured Natalia there to kill her. She must have known someone who worked there; someone willing to help her."

Beckett nodded. "Right. He'd have access to the back and all of the tools there. He could have easily stored her body in with the other meat until closing. We should check the freezers for her blood; there must be lots of it if she was still bleeding out on the street."

Castle shook his head solemnly. "No, they cut meat back there; they would have a sloped floor and a drain to get rid of all of the blood."

Beckett tapped her pen against her teeth and thought. She sat up straighter when an idea struck. "That was a messy murder; the killer would have gotten her blood all over his hands. And what do you do when your hands are dirty?"

Castle grinned; they had just broken the case wide open. "You wash them."

* * *

**00:18:01:49 until the Boom**

Lanie called them from the morgue. "I had CSU check the sinks. The entire basin was washed out with bleach but the knobs had some of Natalia's blood on it."

"Any employee prints?" asked Beckett, poising her pen over the paper; prepared to write down the names.

"Two," said Lanie. "They were the newest prints that were found; Ludwig Romano and Antonio Romano. They're the sons of the owners."

"Alright, thanks, Lanie," Beckett said, ready to hang up.

"Javi says that Castle's having a crisis," Lanie said quickly. "What's the deal with him?"

"It's not a crisis! It could be real, Lanie!" Castle said defensively.

"What could be real? Kate, spill," said the ME.

Beckett sighed. "It's nothing; Castle's psychic aunt just predicted the end of the world."

"It isn't _nothing_! We're all going to die in…" Castle checked his watch again. "A little less than eighteen hours."

The line was silent. "Kate, what are you doing with this guy?" Lanie sighed.

Castle frowned and looked to Kate for support.

"Honestly, I have no clue. It's a good thing he's so ruggedly handsome," Kate teased, pinching Castle's cheek.

He batted her hand away and pouted like a five-year-old whose mom said he couldn't have a cookie before dinner.

"I gotta go," said Lanie. "Castle… try not to hurt yourself."


	4. Chapter 4

**00:14:39:22 until the Boom**

"So Mr. Romano," Beckett said, pacing in front of a nervous looking Italian man. He had huge saucer-like eyes that reminded her of an owl she once saw at a zoo. He kind of smelled like cheese and something else she couldn't identify and his Romano's Deli shirt was stained in God knows what. "How are you?" Her tactic for this interrogation was to be polite and understanding yet firm. The murderer had to be either Ludwig or his brother.

Ludwig shrugged. "I've been better. I hear zat some girl was murdered in my shop." His accent was thick for someone raised in America.

"You heard correctly," Beckett said, tossing the Ludwig's file on the table.

Ludwig flinched and recoiled.

"Are your hot subs really as good as they say?" asked Castle.

Beckett glared at him for getting off topic.

Ludwig grinned proudly. "Yah. Of course, my pap spent years perfecting the meatball sub recipe. It's the best in Greenwich."

Castle nodded, getting comfortable with their perp. "What's your secret? Onions? Garlic?"

"How about murder?" Beckett said, reigning them in.

"Mortar?" Ludwig said dumbly. "Non, I do not put za mortar in my meatballs! Zat's just crazy talk."

Beckett rolled her eyes. "_Murder_, Mr. Ludwig."

"I ah, I do not know what it is zat you are saying."

Castle took the photo of Alicia Potts and slid it across the table. "Do you recognize this girl?"

Ludwig didn't even look at it for a millisecond before denying it. "No. But she is pretty, no?"

"Are you sure?" asked Beckett. "You get a lot of customers during the day."

"I am sure," Ludwig nodded. "I remember all of my customers and their orders."

"What about this girl?" asked Beckett, showing a picture of the vic.

Ludwig wrinkled his nose. "Hm. I think I do know this girl. She ordered… a vegetarian coldcut."

"You're the second person to say that today, Mr. Romano," Beckett noted. "You and Alicia must have gotten your stories straight beforehand because Natalia never ate a sub before she died."

Ludwig swallowed hard.

"Ooh," Castle smirked. "B-U-S-T-E-D, you are _busted_."

"No! No! It wasn't me! I wasn't even _there_," Ludwig said hurriedly.

"You just said you recognized her and you even remember her order," said Beckett, sitting down across from him.

"I do!" said Ludwig. "But not from _today_. She comes in every day during lunch hour and orders the same thing. Vegetarian coldcut no tomato."

"Why weren't you there yesterday?" asked Castle. "Seems a little strange that the one day you're not at work when Natalia comes in is the day she's murdered."

"Sounds like a convenient alibi," Beckett added.

"I was sick yesterday!" Ludwig said.

"Like hell you were," Castle muttered.

"I was! I was home all day in bed," Ludwig insisted. "I never left my apartment."

"Don't you live in the apartment over the deli?" asked Castle.

"It would have been easy for you to sneak downstairs during the day," Beckett jumped in. "Y'know, to get a snack or something."

"As a matter of fact," said Ludwig smartly, "I did go down during lunchtime to get a bologna."

"Where do you keep the bologna?"

Ludwig paused to see if it was a trick question. "The… refrigerator?"

"Did you see anything strange while you were in there?" asked Beckett, folding her hands and leaning over the table. "Anything that was in the fridge that isn't normally there?"

"Actually, Antonio had a huge burlap bag in there," said Ludwig. "Double bagged. When I asked my brother about it, he said it was a shipment of potatoes." He sat back in his chair and left them to ponder it.

Beckett turned to Castle and held the file up in front of their faces so they could talk in private.

"Potatoes don't need refrigerated," Castle whispered.

"It was Natalia's body that Antonio was storing until closing," said Beckett.

"Whoa," Ludwig said, standing up. "Antonio didn't kill that girl," he pointed to the photo of Natalia.

"Evidence says differently," Beckett said dryly.

"I know what I said looks bad, but the bag clearly said 'Potatoes' on it," Ludwig pounded his fist into the table.

"Yeah, well," said Castle, _"Things aren't always what they seem."_

* * *

**00:12:09:21 until the Boom**

Beckett shut the interrogation room door with a click. "This won't take long," she whispered to the uniform stationed outside for their safety. She turned to face the killer. "Thank you for coming in, Mr. Romano."

"What's this about?" asked Antonio, a spitting image of his brother.

Beckett jumped to the chase. "Do you recognize these girls?" She handed him photos of the victim and his partner in crime.

"Nope," said Antonio, not bothering to look at the pictures.

Castle, who was leaning up against the wall until this point, walked towards the table. "Are you sure? Don't you want to look at them?" He slid the photos closer.

"Or are you feeling guilty and you never want to see your poor victim's face again?" asked Beckett, staring Antonio down.

Antonio glanced at the picture; first at Alicia, then reluctantly at Natalia. "Never seen them in my life."

"Bullshit," Castle muttered.

"Castle," Beckett warned. She turned on Antonio. "How do you not recognize her?" She held up Natalia's picture. "She came into your shop every day to order the same sub for lunch."

Antonio shrugged. "I get a lot of customers and I don't become personally invested in their eating habits."

"No," Beckett agreed. "But you did with Alicia Potts."

"Who?"

Castle pointed to the other picture. "Your partner in crime."

"You're accusing me of murder?" Antonio asked.

"Are you confessing to it?" Beckett countered.

"No."

"Then no." Beckett smirked.

Antonio raised an eyebrow. "No?"

"Nope."

Was this a trick? "So… what am I doing here?"

"You tell us," Castle said vaguely.

Castle and Beckett stared blankly at Antonio.

"I have the right to know why I'm being arrested."

"Playing that card now, are we?" Beckett said with a hint of a smile.

It was killing Antonio that he didn't know what angle the detectives were working. It hurt even more not knowing what they knew and how much his brother had given up.

"We're not arresting you," Castle said, "We invited you here and you came here of your own accord."

Antonio stuck his lower lip out and peered at them through his owl-eyes. "I know my rights. Why are you holding me?"

Beckett shook her head. "We're not holding you. The door's right there, you can leave anytime."

"Fine," Antonio said, standing up.

"But if you leave," Castle said, "We'll know you're guilty and you'll be charged for more years in the slammer for withholding information."

Antonio sat back down and pounded his palm into the tabletop. "Tell me what you know."

"We don't know anything," Beckett said slyly.

Castle and Beckett chuckled; enjoying their little private joke.

Antonio wanted in. "What?"

"Nothing," said Castle with a grin. "We don't know anything."

Curiosity killed the cat. "All right, I'll tell you. It was Ludwig."

"Really?" asked Caskett in unison.

"Really," said Antonio.

Beckett leaned forward. "Tell us; what did Ludwig do?"

"He killed Natalia."

Beckett and Castle glanced at each other. He had just given himself up.

"Who's Natalia?" asked Beckett.

Antonio slammed his finger into Natalia's picture. "Her."

"Funny," said Castle. "You said you didn't recognize these girls."

Antonio's mouth dropped open. "I-I don't!" he stammered.

"Then how do you know her and why did you lie?" asked Beckett, raising her voice.

"I saw her with Ludwig in the back room," said Antonio. "He was with one other girl and a dude and I told him they had to get out because customers aren't allowed in the back rooms."

Castle raised an eyebrow. "A guy?"

"Yeah," Antonio nodded.

"Who?" asked Beckett.

Antonio shrugged. "I don't know who, like I said, I don't know these people."

"Describe him," Beckett pressed.

"Tall, really blonde," Antonio said. He thought for a minute. "He looked like a soccer player."

"How do you know?" asked Castle.

Antonio smirked. "I grew up an Italian soccer-loving family. You learn to recognize these things. He had the build and his shinguard tan gave him away."

"Jordan," Castle whispered.

"Thank you for your time," said Beckett. "You'll be shown back to your cell."

Antonio's eyes grew wide. He didn't enjoy his time in the holding pen and wasn't looking to go back. "Whoa, no. I gave you what you wanted. I gave you information."

Beckett's hand rested on the doorknob. "Yeah, but you're still under suspicion until further notice. We can hold you for exactly twenty-four hours until we get more information to prove your claim."

Antonio slumped back in his chair as the uniform came in to collect him.

* * *

**00:11:50:23 until the Boom**

"If Jordan's in on it," said Castle, handing Beckett a cup of coffee. "What's this about? It's not about cheating anymore."

Beckett took a sip of the hot beverage and got to work on a stack of files that had been piling up in her inbox. "I don't know. But it's not just a coincidence that all of these people are socially related but it has nothing to do with the murder. I think that as soon as we find the reason behind this, we'll figure out who our killer is. But I highly doubt it's anyone outside of this circle of suspects; it seems to all be coming around to the same people."

"Right," Castle muttered, checking his watch.

Beckett slapped her hand over the face. "Stop."

"What? I'm not doing anything," he said innocently.

"You know what you're doing and it's making me nervous."

Castle tilted his head like a puppy. "So you _are _curious about this Boom."

"No," she said quickly. "You know I don't believe in that stuff. Your angst just radiates off of you and clings to those around you." She blew on her coffee before taking another sip.

He nodded. "Sure, Beckett. Whatever you say."

She put her mug down with a loud thud and glowered at him. "Castle."

"Beckett."

"_Castle._"

"KBecks."

She huffed, knowing that he was just pushing her buttons now. She clicked her pen and started initialing and signing.

As usual, Castle sat by and watched her work. "Let's make a bet. An apocalypse bet."

"Castle, I don't want-"

He put his palm over the dotted line she was supposed to sign under so she had no choice but to stop. "If the world doesn't end, I'll buy you a pony."

"I don't want a pony."

"I'll buy you any pair of boots you want."

Now _that _was an interesting wager. After all, if the world isn't going to end, she might as well get some shoes out of it. "Fine," Beckett agreed. "And if you win, I'll do anything you want in bed."

He didn't hesitate. "Deal." They shook on it. "Wait," he said after he took a minute to think. "If I win, we'll be dead and you…" He calculated the outcome of the bet. "Goddammit."

She winked at him over her mug. "Exactly."

"Yo, Beckett," said Ryan, jogging out of the elevator. "Jordan White's gone AWOL."

Beckett slammed her coffee back. "How? I thought we had a detail on him."

"Oh, we do," Ryan said, stopping in front of her desk. "We're just letting him off his leash a little so we can see what he does."

"And you're telling me this why?" asked Beckett. Between this stupid case and Castle's paranoia, her patience was wearing thin.

"Because," said Ryan, "look who he met up with." He handed them a surveillance photo.

Beckett examined it. Jordan White, Alicia Potts, and either Ludwig or Antonio Romano –they couldn't tell because his back was turned and the brothers look so much alike- were standing in the middle of Central Park.

"Everyone's in on it," she muttered, handing the picture off to Castle.

"So we can at least get them on accessory," Castle said positively.

"Not necessarily," Ryan and Beckett said in unison.

"We don't exactly have evidence on any of them," said Beckett.

Castle held up the printout. "Who's this?"

Ryan squinted at it. "I don't know. A random park-goer."

"No way," said Castle, pointing at a blurry figure in the background. "Look at how she's standing. Her body's turned towards the others."

Beckett understood what he was seeing. "Like she's with them."

Castle nodded. "Or listening in."


	5. Chapter 5

**00:11:32:09 until the boom**

While Ryan and Esposito worked on getting a face-match for the mysterious fourth person, Beckett went down to the morgue to A.) Check out the body again, B.) Talk to Lanie about Espo.

"Hey, girl," Lanie said, looking up from a stiff. She put down the medical tools she was using to poke around inside a bullet wound and took her gloves off. "What brings you to my neck of the woods?"

Beckett shoved her hands in her pockets. "Just wanted to get a second look at Natalia Jackson's body."

"Mhmm," said Dr. Parish, motioning her toward the storage units. She punched in the four-digit passcode and rolled out Natalia's temporarily preserved body. She had mostly bled out and was just as white as the sheet covering her. Her skin looked like a roughly sewn patchwork quilt from all of the stitches she needed to keep her innards… in.

Both women grimaced and resisted the urge to turn away in disgust.

"What are you looking for?" Lanie asked, taking a step away so Beckett could have full access to the body.

"I'm not sure," Beckett muttered, moving her face a few inches from Natalia's. "Something doesn't fit here." She put on rubber gloves before turning over the hands to check for bruising. "This was a messy job. Shouldn't we have found more traces of her killer?"

Lanie shrugged. "He must have been careful."

"But with that much blood loss, some of the killer's sweat or something must have gotten mixed in," said Beckett.

"If it did, it would have been too hard to separate the two DNA samples," Lanie sighed.

"Lanie, how deep were these cuts?"

"Pretty deep," Lanie said, "they penetrated at least three inches below the skin. Why?"

"A meat slicer wouldn't cut that deep," she mused, beginning to pace. "It would either make thin slices or cut straight through the "meat" until it reached a hard surface on the other side…"

"So, you think that the blood we found on the slicer was planted to frame the Antonio brothers?" asked Lanie, who kept close tabs on the cases.

"Great theory," said Castle, sauntering into the morgue.

"Castle, what are you doing here?" Beckett groaned. "You're supposed to be helping Ryan."

"I missed you too much," he responded, wrapping his arms around her from behind. He kissed the top of her head and got a mouthful l of cherry-scented hair.

"Uch, you guys are disgusting," Lanie said, turning back to the equally-but in a different way-gross body.

To pacify him, Beckett gave him a long kiss on the lips this time. "Go help Ryan," she said as she broke away.

"Yes, ma'am," he said, turning giddily on his heel and skipping off. "Bye, ladies!"

"What's he so chipper about?" Lanie said bitterly, scribbling on her clipboard. She crossed her 'T' a little too violently and tore through the paper.

"We just made this bet that he thinks he's going to benefit from," Beckett said dismissively. She watched her friend stitch up a patient. "So… what's up with you and Javi?"

"Don't even go there, Kate," Lanie said.

"Okay," Beckett responded plainly, turning to leave. "Just let me know if you want to talk about it."

"I think Javi's cheating," the ME blurted out.

Beckett swiveled on her heel to face her. "What makes you say that?"

"I read his text messages while he was in the shower," she said sheepishly.

"No."

"Yeah."

"What did it say?"

"Not much, honestly," said Lanie. "It was addressed to someone named Taylor saying how much he missed her and making plans to meet up soon."

"No."

"Yeah," Lanie hesitated. "And… there was a picture."

"Shut the front door," Beckett said incredulously. "Like…"

"Oh, God," Lanie said, realizing what she was referring. "Not _that _kind of picture. Hell, no. If it was, that boy wouldn't still be alive."

They giggled like middle school girls and Beckett leaned in for more details.

"No," Lanie said, "It was a picture from Taylor and she's… gorgeous."

Beckett shook her head. "It could be nothing. Everything isn't what it seems."

"Yeah but…" Lanie trailed off, "He's seemed so distant lately and I mean this Taylor looks like someone straight out of the Victoria's catalog. Who wouldn't want her?"

Beckett tilted her head. "Someone who has you." She had never seen Lanie so low before. Lanie's usually the optimist; the one that's a hopeless romantic and always pushing for people to get together.

Lanie smiled sadly. "Aren't you a bundle of sweet, Kate Beckett?"

"Look," Beckett said, "I think you should talk and see for yourself who Taylor is. You could be holding back on a really good relationship because of an assumption. And you know what I say about when you assume things."

Lanie frowned.

"Say it."

"I don't want to, Kate."

"Say it."

Lanie sighed. "When you _assume_, you make and ass out of u and me. Happy?"

"Very."

Lanie eyed her. "You're starting to catch Castle's crazy."

Kate gave her a satisfied grin and left Dr. Parish to cultivate the seed of thought she had just planted.

* * *

**00:11:22:45 until the Boom**

Castle was breathing into Ryan's ear as he worked with one of the techies on the surveillance picture to enhance the background quality. It made Ryan extremely uncomfortable and he desperately wanted to shove the writer away. But he resisted, being the nice person he was.

"No, no, no," Ryan said, hitting the undo button five times to restore the resolution back to +50%.

The techie, a twenty-something wearing a Flash t-shirt, grumbled to himself.

"What was that?" Ryan asked, using his seniority to intimidate the intern.

"Nothing, sir," said the techie.

Castle nicknamed him Flash even though this was the first and last day he ever wore the red shirt to work.

Flash lowered the ISO and raised the pixilation 2%s at a time.

"Hey guys," Beckett said, settling herself on the arm of Castle's chair.

Castle put his hand on her thigh and she calmly put it back in his own lap without blinking.

Flash glanced up at her and surprised by her lack of lip hair and potbelly that was so famous among the female cops of the 12th, his hand slipped on the mouse and the pixilation bar slid to 100%, reducing the image to a blur.

"You idiot," Ryan said, taking the mouse from Flash.

Flash apologized.

"So I have everything ready to go for the bomb shelter," said Castle. "Do you want to ask your dad to come with us and survive?"

Beckett scoffed. "My dad has better things to do than spend-"

"Eleven hours, twenty-one minutes, and three seconds."

"Of his time hiding out in a bomb shelter with his daughter and her paranoia-stricken manfriend," she finished.

Flash looked up from the screen. ""Manfriend"?"

"It's what Castle insisted to be called," Ryan explained. "Because he says it's demeaning to be called a boy."

Flash accepted this and went back to working. "This is going to take me at least a day to recover."

"We don't have a day," said Beckett.

Castle checked his watch. "We have eleven hours-"

Beckett stopped him. "Don't. Just get it done; I don't care if it's a little rough around the edges, we just need distinguishing characteristics like eye color or maybe a tattoo."

The techie reached behind the screen and turned up the radio blasting ACDC. He cracked his fingers and started typing in codes at breathtaking speeds that would impress Steve Jobs. It was like seeing a real-life working montage like in the movies when you need to get something done.

"Castle and I are going to talk to Natalia's family," Beckett told Ryan. "Where's Espo?"

"He got called in for a grab."

Beckett didn't buy it for a second but since the team's unspoken policy was to cover each other when they were out, she let it slide. "When you see him, tell him that I said he needs to go to the morgue."

"What for?" asked Ryan, writing a note to himself on the back of his hand in blue highlighter.

"He needs to… check out the body again," Beckett improvised.

"I can do that now, I'm not doing anything," said Ryan, pushing his chair back.

"No, no," she said quickly, "I think you need to stay here and watch him."

As she said this, Flash's hand slipped and the resolution went from 1600x900 to 800x600.

Ryan snatched the mouse away from the amateur. Being a former tech junkie in his high school years, Ryan had some expertise in this matter. "What are we paying you interns to do, anyways?"

"You're not," Flash said plainly.

"Oh, right."

Beckett grabbed the sleeve of Castle's jacket and motioned for him to follow.

"Wait," Ryan said, jumping up. He wrung his hands together.

They waited for him to speak, Castle tapping his foot impatiently and checking his watch that was now down to less than 11 hours until their eminent deaths.

"Jenny and I were wondering if we can bunk in with you guys in your bomb shelter," Ryan said quietly.

"Oh, Lord Jesus," Beckett mumbled, turning away in embarrassment on Ryan's behalf.

"It's just a precaution!" Ryan said defensively.

Beckett squinted at him. "And Jenny agreed to this?"

"Well… no," Ryan said, running a hand under his nose. "But I'll drag her there if I have to."

Castle clapped a hand on Ryan's shoulder. "Smart man… but sorry. Our bomb shelter has a strict carrying capacity of two." That was a complete and utter lie. Castle just wanted "alone time" with Beckett in case they do die anyways.

Ryan looked crestfallen.

"But look," Castle said in all seriousness. "If you can find an underground basement or something, like in your building where they store stuff, and get some helmets and padding, you might just make it."

The detective thought about it. "What if it's, like, a huge earthquake and we all just concave to the center of the earth?"

Castle blinked. "Then I'll meet you in hell."

* * *

**00:10:54:21 until the Boom**

"Thank you for coming in, Mr. and Mrs. Jackson," said Beckett as she poured them both piping hot mugs of coffee. "I'm so sorry for your loss."

The two silver-haired parents sat clutching each other's arms like lifelines.

Castle sat across from them, watching as they clutched the cups but never sipped. The life in their eyes just seemed to be gone. "We're so sorry for your loss," he said on both of their behalves. After spending close to six years with Beckett, he had gotten pretty good at these meetings.

The Jacksons nodded silently. They had probably heard those words a hundred times before now and they didn't make it any easier.

"Do you have any idea why someone might have wanted to kill Natalia?" Beckett said gently.

Mr. Jackson shook his head. "No, Talia was a good girl; always doing what was right."

"She was the one who looked out for her friends," Mrs. Jackson added. "Her friends were going through a bit of a phase… you know, that early twenties phase. They were big into partying and experimenting and such. Natalia was always their designated driver and made sure they were being safe. She made us so proud."

"Did she suffer?" Mr. Jackson asked, always one of the first questions put forth by the family of the victim.

"Yes," Beckett put simply. She knew that the truth was what some people needed to hear the most. They didn't want it sugar coated because it wasn't going to make it better to lie about it.

Mrs. Jackson let out a stifled yelp and covered her mouth with her hand.

Her husband grabbed her hand.

"Did any of her friends seem… off to you?" Castle asked.

The elderly couple shook their gray heads.

"She didn't have enemies; maybe someone who was jealous of her?" Beckett pressed.

"No," said Mr. Jackson. "She was kind to everyone."

Beckett scribbled something on her legal pad. "What about her boyfriend? Jordan."

Mrs. Jackson looked up. "Who?"

"Oh, no, Natalia doesn't have a boyfriend," Mr. Jackson insisted.

"She did," said Beckett. "He was her… fiancé… You didn't know?"

Castle looked from Beckett to Natalia's parents. Maybe they didn't know so much about their little girl as they thought. Maybe the Natalia they knew wasn't who she truly was. After all, a nice girl doesn't get engaged to a douchebag like Jordan White.

"She would have told us-" Mrs. Jackson began. "We've always been close."

"Young women… tend to stray from their families in their twenties," Beckett said, speaking from experience. She cleared her throat. "It's a time of self discovery and it's necessary to put some distance between you and your family to do that."

"Do you think she ever planned on telling us?" Mr. Jackson asked his wife who shrugged.

"Mr. and Mrs. Jackson," said Castle glancing down at Natalia's file. "I understand you have another daughter, Amelia?"

"Yes," they confirmed. "She's her younger sister."

On cue, the sister entered the break room; flustered.

"I'm so sorry I'm late," said Amelia Jackson; a teenage version of Natalia. The gold crest on her auburn sweater read _Manhattan High School of Performing Arts. _"I came as soon as I heard."

"It's no problem at all," Beckett said kindly. "Were you and your sister close?"

Amelia dropped her purse at her feet and sat next to her dad. "Oh, yeah definitely." She went on to say how much she loved and admired Natalia.

While she talked, Castle carefully watched Mr. Jackson. He looked slightly sick; too skinny for his height. When Castle looked closer, he could see a strange break in the front of his silver hairline. This wouldn't have been important if not for the light blonde-almost white-hairs that were sprinkled in with the gray. Mr. Jackson was wearing a hairpiece in the same color as the hairs found on his daughter's body.

One other thing occurred to him. Natalia was engaged to Jordan White but the one thing she lacked was a ring. Perhaps Jordan was too much of a cheapskate to buy her one or maybe the killer took it out of spite. Mr. Jackson could have easily gone on Natalia's Facebook and found out she was engaged. If he was upset enough, he could meet her at the deli to catch up and decide to kill her instead; making it look like Jordan did it.

"Mr. Jackson," Castle interrupted Amelia. "Where were you during the time of Natalia's murder?"

Jackson looked offended. "You can't seriously think that I-"

"It's just procedure, sir," Beckett said. She had no idea what Castle was playing at but he had to have reason behind his accusation.

"I was at work," said Jackson.

Beckett and Castle exchanged a glance. He hadn't even asked for the timeframe of her death before answering.

Beckett leaned forward and put her elbows on her knees. There were so many potential suspects and the pool was only growing by the minute. "You'll understand if we need to search your house."

"Of course," Mrs. Jackson said automatically. "Whatever we can do to help."

Amelia stood up. "Why are you questioning _us _instead of finding my sister's murderer?" she said angrily, crossing her arms.

"Every piece of information is important," Beckett explained. "Even if it seems irrelevant, it _is _vital to figuring out the case."

Tears welled up in the teenager's eyes. "This is all this is to you, isn't it? Just another case-"

"Amelia-" her father warned.

Amelia bit her lip and pushed her blonde hair away from her eyes. "This is my _sister, _detective. My sister is dead and you're wasting time questioning her family. You have no idea-"

"Look," Beckett said firmly, not about to take shit from anybody. "I know what you're going through. I lost someone close to me when I was your age and it took me years to get over it because the killer was never caught."

Amelia looked slightly apologetic, looking sheepishly towards the opposite corner of the room.

"But I promise you," Beckett clenched her fists. "We will find the person responsible for this and put them behind bars."

Amelia ground her teeth together and looked from Beckett to Castle then at her parents who were strangely silent. She nodded. "You'd better." With that, she scooped up her school bag and fled the room.

"I'm so sorry," Mrs. Jackson said. "She can be a bit of a drama queen."

Beckett shook her head. "No, it's fine, I get it. It can be hard on someone that age. She's going through so much as it is."

"She and Natalia were like best friends," said Mr. Jackson. "It was difficult for Amelia when Talia went off to Columbia and left her behind. She was so used to being a big part of her life and then she was just gone. I think Amelia felt abandoned."

"Then Natalia stopped calling," his wife added. "She even missed Christmas last year. Now it all makes sense; she was spending all of her time with that Jordan boy. I can't believe she wouldn't tell us."

"Mr. Jackson, how far into chemo are you?" Castle inquired. The man wasn't old enough to lose all of his hair unless something external was causing it.

"A few months," Jackson replied. "How did you know?"

Castle scratched his hairline.

Self consciously, Mr. Jackson's hand flew to his head. "Oh," he said sheepishly. "Yes, I'm undergoing extensive surgery for my condition."

"That's all the questions we have for now," said Beckett, standing up. "We'll be sure to let you know if we find anything."

The Jacksons thanked them and they were shown out.

* * *

**00:10:02:59 until the Boom**

"What are you thinking?" Beckett asked, watching as Castle sorted through the suspect's files.

"I'm thinking that everyone we've talked to are liars," said Castle, rummaging until he found Jordan's background. He showed Beckett what he had learned about the engagement ring. In the photo of Natalia and Jordan, she is wearing a gigantic rock on her left hand. So where had it gone?

Beckett taped Mr. Jackson's picture under the 'suspects' column on the murder board and stepped back to soak in the complex mystery. "Why are all of these people," she gestured to the suspects, "somehow showing up? They all have clear motives for killing her but have solid alibis."

"Antonio mentioned that Ludwig was in the backroom with _two _girls. One of them was definitely Alicia. We have everyone that was involved except the real killer. So I'm going to guess that the killer is this fifth woman," said Castle. "And let's not forget about Natalia's father. We need to seriously narrow down our suspects."

Beckett nodded. "Let's start with those who have supposed alibis." She reached for a picture but stopped. "None of them have solids."

Castle took the dry-erase marker from her and started an 'involved' column right next to the 'suspects'. He moved everyone except Mr. Jackson under 'involved' and drew a square with a question mark for the fifth person.

Flash the tech intern came bounding up to them; coming to a sliding stop. His Nike hightops skid on the tile and left a black streak. "Detective Beckett," he said, catching his breath. "I have the picture." He handed her an orange envelope.

"So soon?" Beckett said, impressed. "Nice job."

Flash grinned proudly and said goodbye; taking off to go back to pretending to work.

"Now we can find out who the killer is," Castle said, grateful that this case was finally wrapping up.

Beckett unclasped the metal prongs of the envelope and slid the blown-up picture out.

Castle peered over her shoulder and examined the grainy picture. "Is that-"

"Son of a bitch."


	6. Chapter 6

**00:09:24:49 until the Boom**

A lawyer sat at Amelia Jackson's side; prepared to plead her case.

"I have to say Miss Jackson, you put on quite a spectacular performance back there," said Beckett, leaning on the mirror of the interrogation room. "You _almost _had me fooled."

Amelia was silent.

"Where were you between 3:30 and 4:00 PM on the day of your sister's murder?" she asked.

The teen looked to her lawyer who nodded. "After school play practice." She folded her hands in her lap and sat up straighter. "I play the lead."

"That's funny," said Castle who was sitting at the table. "Because we contacted your director and he said that you never showed up for your curtain call. So where did you go?"

"I was sick. I spent the afternoon in the bathroom of my dressing room," said Amelia, pushing her platinum blonde hair behind her ear.

"And can anyone vouch for that?" Beckett asked, pushing herself away from the wall and walking towards them.

The lawyer cut in. "My client was taken to the doctor that night to get a prescription."

"I'm not asking if anyone can verify where she was _after _the murder," Beckett said dryly. She put her palms on the table and leaned into it. "The question was if she has an alibi for her sister's murder."

Amelia scowled. "I didn't kill Talia, detective. I thought I had made that clear an hour ago."

"You are quite the little actress, Amelia," Castle said, slightly impressed by the part she had played.

"I wasn't _acting,_" Amelia insisted. "Talia was my best friend."

"But she abandoned you for a man and you felt betrayed," Beckett said. She pulled her chair out and sat beside Castle.

"It wasn't like that!" Amelia said angrily. "Sure, I was upset that she never came around after college but I didn't blame her. Mom and Dad put so much pressure on us to be the good kids and I would have done the same thing if I were her."

"Ms. Jackson-" the lawyer warned. She was digging herself into a hole that she wouldn't be able to negotiate out of. Things were looking bleak for his client; they had a photo proving that she was conspiring with a group of people that were confirmed accessories and those people wouldn't hesitate to rat her out if it was true.

"Natalia still called me sometimes," Amelia continued, ignoring the glare she was getting from her attorney. "My parents didn't know or else they would have made me convince her to come home."

"If you didn't kill her," said Castle, "who did?"

"My client chooses not to answer," said the lawyer.

Beckett rolled her eyes. "Of course not. Because she would be testifying against herself."

"No," said the lawyer, "because she would be testifying against someone she has the right not to."

Amelia stared at her lap.

That short phrase spoke wonders. There were three people you were legally allowed to refrain from testifying against in the court of law: yourself, your spouse, and your family. Since she wasn't protecting herself or a husband, the only person she could be helping would be a parent; her father to be specific.

"Amelia," Beckett said quietly, softening for the poor girl who was carrying this weight on her shoulders. "If you know something, you need to tell us."

The lawyer put a protective hand on Amelia's shoulder. "Detective-"

Castle shushed him.

"You can't go through life with this hanging over you. If you know who killed Natalia, you'll only be helping her," said Beckett. She didn't want to mention that she could arrest her for withholding information because she wanted this girl to think that she was on her side.

Amelia remained impassive.

Beckett sighed. "All right. Let's try something else. Why were you with Jordan White, Alicia Potts, and Ludwig and Antonio Romano in the park?"

Amelia checked with her attorney before proceeding. "They're drug dealers."

"And you were there to buy?" asked Castle.

"No," Amelia said calmly. "I was there because I knew they knew my sister. And I also knew that Talia was involved in the deal. She hadn't been picking up her phone and I wanted to make sure she was okay."

"That makes sense," Beckett said, conversing with Castle. "It fits pretty well with the rest of the story."

"That's how Talia said she was paying her student loans without help from our parents," Amelia confessed. "She must have gotten desperate because she was extremely opposed to the whole thing. She never touched a pill-not even Advil-ever since…"

"Ever since what?" asked Castle.

"Since our dad ODed and nearly died," Amelia said quietly. She sniffed and ran a finger under her heavily made up eye.

Beckett looked at the lawyer who had his hand on her shoulder. "Your dad's a drug addict?"

"Was," Amelia corrected.

"Do you know if your dad was involved with that circle of dealers?" Castle asked, sifting through Mr. Jackson's personal files for medical records. Sure enough, he was admitted to the ER two years ago for an OD on Xanax. He showed Beckett the paperwork.

Amelia shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe."

"Why was your father on Xanax?" asked Beckett. She knew from experience that the drug was FDA approved for treating panic disorders.

The lawyer butt in. "Mr. Jackson has doctor-identified GAD."

Beckett nodded. Having generalized anxiety disorder could make Jackson highly paranoid and possibly drove him to the point of murder. It might get him a shorter prison sentence also. Still, she wasn't going by the word of a nineteen-year-old girl. "We're going to check into that. Is there anything else you want to say in your defense or in your family member's defense?"

"Only that a certain family member's psych therapist has identified him as clean," said the lawyer.

Beckett nodded to him and stood up, holding the door open for them. "Thank you for coming, you've been very helpful."

Amelia gave her a cold stare on her way out.

Castle was still seated at the table. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"That Amelia's an incredible actress or that all the evidence points to Jackson?"

He frowned. "Sadly, both. It's obviously her but with all of this evidence piling up against Mr. Jackson; I don't think we can get a fair trial." He discretely looked at his watch.

"Stop that!" Beckett shouted, latching her hand around his wrist and taking the Rolex from him. She shoved it deep in her pocket and rushed out of the room before he could do anything about it.

* * *

**00:08:42:12 until the Boom**

Castle examined the tan line where his watch should be on his left arm. He didn't like not knowing how much time was left until the Boom. "I'm really white," he noted, comparing the two shades of skin; white and whiter. "I look like Edward."

"You should come tanning with me sometime," Beckett responded absentmindedly; searching for evidence against Amelia Jackson. "It could be fun."

Castle smirked. "Lying in a coffin-like chamber while lights beam cancer through me? No thanks." He put his hand over his wrist to cover his pastiness.

"Oh, I don't spa-tan," she said, "I lie out on the roof."

He pulled her collar aside to check her shoulder for white. "How do you not get a bikini line?" He realized that her entire body is the exact same shade of golden-brown and wanted to know her secret.

She stopped what she was doing and gave him a suggestive grin.

His jaw dropped. "I'd tan with you any day, Tanning Buddy. Let's do it tomorrow."

Beckett smirked and went back to her paperwork. "I thought we're going to be dead by tomorrow."

He frowned. "_We're_ not going to die, everyone else is. Then we can tan wherever we want; not just the roof."

"That's a nice way to look at it," Beckett remarked, jotting a note on her legal pad. "But there are other people living underground too so we won't be alone if there's a nuclear attack."

"True," he sighed. "Too bad, we could be like the Adam and Eve of the AfterEarth; walking around buck naked in the jungle and eating fruit. That would be so much fun, y'know?"

Beckett threw her pen down. "That's it!"

"What? What's it?"

Beckett tossed him his coat. "We need to go," she said, zipping up her own jacket.

"What?!" he shouted.

"I'll explain in the car," she said over her shoulder, hurrying to the elevator.

He jogged after her. "Maybe you could tell me now."

"No time," she said, holding the doors for him. "Castle, hurry up, or I'm leaving without you."

"Can I drive?" he asked.

She threw her head back and laughed.

* * *

**00:08:30:51 until the Boom**

"So what is this epiphany?" Castle asked, gripping the dashboard while Beckett wove in and out of traffic.

"Natalia hadn't been in contact with any of her family besides her younger sister," said Beckett, coming to a sharp stop at a red light. "When Amelia told her about their dad's cancer, Natalia would have at least tried to check on him."

"What does that have to do with our previous conversation?" asked Castle, his seatbelt digging into his shoulder.

"Amelia wasn't _alone_," Beckett said, flooring it as soon as the light turned green. "It wasn't her dad that got into that drug circle; it was her. She blamed it on Mr. Jackson because that would be the obvious explanation. He had the perfect motive and to make it more convincing, Amelia took Natalia's engagement ring to make it look like her dad killed her out of anger."

Castle was surprised that he himself hadn't come to that conclusion. "But then what's her motive?"

"If Natalia was as good as everyone says, she wouldn't get into drugs because of her father's past-the same reason I don't drink a lot-no matter how desperate she was for money. She could have easily just asked her family for money. So when she found out from her fiancé, Jordan, that her little sister was involved in the circle, she threatened to out her…"

"She threatened to out _all _of them," Castle added.

"Right," Beckett nodded, making a wide turn onto the next street, nearly taking out a biker. "Amelia took the ring to 1.) Pin it on her dad, 2.) Get it back to Jordan."

"So you think she still has the ring?" asked Castle, grimacing as they cut off a taxi.

"PINCHE IDIOTA!" the Mexican driver shouted, laying on his horn.

Beckett leaned out her window and shouted back, "VETE AL CARAJO!"

Castle admired her ability to swear in ten different languages. It was incredibly hot. "What's the hurry?" A pedestrian who was walking a little too slowly almost lost a leg as they passed.

"I want to search her apartment for the ring before she gets rid of it," Beckett responded, putting her window back up.

"Do we have a warrant?" asked Castle.

"No," she smirked. "But since when has that stopped us?"

He glanced at the clock. "True." Eight and a half hours left. Hopefully, they could wrap up this case in time for the Boom.

* * *

**00:11:02:53 until the Boom**

Esposito found Ryan sitting with some geeky tech intern in a Flash t-shirt. They seemed to be Photoshopping a surveillance photo and not making much progress. The image resembled something you might see while on Extacy.

Ryan glanced up, sliding the mouse over to the intern. "Hey, man. Beckett said to tell you to go down to the morgue."

"Why?" asked Espo, taking the open bag of Funyuns that the two were sharing.

Ryan shrugged and flicked the intern when he messed up the clarity again. "She said to take another look at the body."

Espo grimaced. "I don't want to see that girl again."

"Who?" asked Ryan. "Lanie or the vic?"

"Both."

"How come?" the intern asked.

"Dude, do your work," Espo said, nodding to the fuzzy screen.

The intern apologized and went back to editing.

"She's mad at me," said Esposito, shoving a fried onion ring in his mouth and crunching loudly.

"Why?" the intern asked. "Sorry," he muttered, after getting glares from the other men.

Espo shrugged. "Beats me." He tossed the bag back onto the desk and wiped his greasy palms on his pants. "I'll go talk to her."

"Dude," said Ryan, tossing him a Mento. "Wipe your face."

Esposito thanked his partner and sulked down to the morgue.

* * *

**00:10:57:23 until the Boom**

Esposito knocked on the swinging door. "Hey, baby."

Lanie looked up from her stitching. "Hi," she muttered not all that warmly. She went back to sewing up a fat guy's chest.

"How you doin'?" Esposito said coolly, initiating the catchphrase of one of his favorite playboys: Joey Tribbiani. Joey hardly ever struck out.

Lanie snapped the thread. "Fine."

"Beckett sent me down here?" Espo said more as a question. He fingered the sharp tools on the tray next to the ME.

Lanie frowned. She made a mental note to smack Kate later. "She did, did she?"

"Mhmm. So what's up?"

Lanie set down her needle. "Was there something you wanted?"

Esposito shoved his hands in his jacket pockets, taking a special interest in an old crumpled gum wrapper he came up with. "Was there something _you _wanted?"

"No."

"Then no."

They stared at each other.

Lanie bit her lip, wanting Javi to say something but not wanting to initiate the conversation herself. Men could be so clueless sometimes. If he didn't know that something was bothering her, he wasn't a very good detective. "Who's Taylor, Javi?"

Espo frowned, his eyes growing wide. "What?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Javier Esposito. I saw your texts," she griped.

"You went through my phone?!" he said incredulously.

"Who's Taylor?"

"No one!"

Lanie put her hands on her hips. "She didn't look like no one."

"I can't believe you went through my phone!"

"So are you sleeping with her?"

"You don't trust me!" he said, continuing to turn the conversation around.

Lanie's lip jutted out. "So you are."

"I am what?"

"Sleeping with her."

"Gross, no," Esposito said. "She's my _cousin, _Lanie."

She grew pale. "Your what?"

"My cousin, Taylor Gonzalez is my cousin," he replied with a triumphant grin.

"Oh," Lanie said, looking sheepishly at her feet. "Sorry."

"It's okay," he said, understanding. "You're kind of cute when you're jealous."

She crossed her arms and laughed nervously. "I wasn't jealous."

"You totally were."

"Was not."

"Was."

Lanie's nostrils flared and she stood glaring at Esposito.

Espo looked left then right, checking that the ward was empty. "Wanna go do it in the bathroom?"

"Let's."

* * *

**00:08:20:29 until the Boom**

Beckett's phone vibrated on the dash. "Can you get that?" she said to Castle, not looking to get a ticket for texting and driving. Distracted, she nearly missed her turn and jerked the wheel at the last possible second without taking out a parking meter.

He punched in her iPhone password: 7125 (His name spelled on the number keys), and checked the new message. "It's from Lanie," he informed her. "She says that Taylor is his cousin and the precinct bathrooms really need cleaning."

Beckett was happy that everything worked out with her two closest friends. "Tell her that everything isn't what it seems and a semicolon P."

Castle narrated as he typed. "Castle is super sexy and the best manfriend ever. Colon, parenthesis. Send."

She shot him an annoyed look.

"I'm just joking," he said, tossing her phone onto her lap. "Who's Taylor?"

"His cousin."

"Who's 'he'?"

"None of your business," she said, pulling into an open parking space in front of the Jackson's town house and killing the engine.

He began to argue but she cut him off.

"Let's go," she said, checking her piece.

"Do you want the vests?" he held up the navy POLICE and WRITER bulletproofs.

She shook her head. "Nah. This should be an easy grab."

"I really think it's a bad idea to go rogue without telling someone where we are. Remember the last time? We nearly got mauled by a lion," he said, following her up the stairs.

"Would you stop being such a baby, Castle?" she teased, looking around before starting to pick the lock. Within seconds, the door was open and they were hurrying upstairs to Amelia's bedroom.

It wasn't hard to identify her room. The walls were covered in vintage movie posters and a director's chair with her name stitched into the canvas back sat in the corner along with a folded up script for an independent film.

They both donned gloves before beginning their search. Castle looked in the obvious places; drawers, the closet, and under the mattress. Beckett checked the loose floorboards and behind the dressers.

She looked up and turned on the spot; searching for a place a teenage girl might hide something. Her gaze landed on an old ceiling vent. "Castle," Beckett pointed.

He nodded and got down on his hands and knees so she could stand on his back. Instead, she pulled up the desk chair and pried the grate off.

He grumbled something along the lines of, "Just trying to help."

She stuck her hand inside the vent and felt around in the darkness; coming across dust bunnies and cobwebs. When she was elbow-deep, her fingers found something hard. She grabbed it and pulled it out.

It was small black box shoebox from DSW. She took the lid off and examined the contents. The usual things a teenage girl would want to keep hidden from the prying eyes of her parents: a stack of love notes from a past boyfriend, condoms, cigarettes, a copy of _Fifty Shades of Grey_, and… an engagement ring.

"Nice," Castle muttered, handing her a clear evidence baggie. "Ouch," he said, feeling a quick sharp pain in his ankle.

"What?" she asked, zipping up the ring and tucking it safely in her pocket. She replaced the box and vent and climbed down.

"I don't know," he said, rubbing his ankle. His eyes grew wide. "Beck-" he said before collapsing.

Beckett felt a pinch in her back. She turned and came face to face with Amelia; armed with a syringe of a clear liquid and an evil grin.

Then, everything went black.


	7. Chapter 7

**00:02:10:12 until the Boom**

Beckett woke up on a hard concrete floor. It was dark around them except for a gray light coming in from a small window next to the ceiling. They must be in a basement, she assumed from the placement of the window and the strong smell of mildew.

Her head was resting on Castle's chest and she tried to push herself up; only to find her hands bound in front of her. Judging by the lack of weight on her belt, her gun was gone.

It took her a moment to figure out what had happened. It all came flooding back; the case, Amelia, and the syringe. What the hell had she injected them with? Whatever it was enough to knock them out for a few hours.

This whole situation gave her a bout of de ja vu but thankfully, there was no tiger this time.

"Castle," she whispered. She turned on her side and put her ear over his heart to make sure he was still alive. He must have gotten a bigger dose of that stuff if he was still out. She breathed a sigh of relief, hearing a steady heartbeat. "Castle," she said more loudly this time.

With her ankles also bound, there wasn't much she could do. She wriggled closer to him like a fish out of water and stuck her tongue in his ear.

He jerked awake. "Ew!" he shouted.

She shushed him.

He blinked and looked around. "Where are we?"

"Probably the Jackson's basement," Beckett replied.

Castle struggled against the ropes on his wrists. "That girl is psychotic!" he referred Amelia. "She murders her sister using a meat slicer then knocks two people out and ties them up." He stopped for a moment. "This would make a great story!"

"Yeah," she agreed sarcastically. "Only all the main characters wind up dead."

"Oh," he waved it off, "you don't know that. Maybe a team of fairies and sprites will come out of a magical portal and help them take out the crazy psycho killer."

Beckett shrugged. "You're the author. So let's say the fairies and sprites don't come. How do the characters get out of this?"

Castle jerked his chin towards the window. "We climb out that."

"We're tied up."

"Hmm," he examined the ropes biding her hands. It was an intricate knot; done by skilled hands. "I think I can untie that."

"How?" Beckett asked. "Your hands are tied to."

He chewed his lip and got to his feet while she did the same. They stood toe to toe as he grabbed at the knot; pulling blindly to create spaces. He mentally scolded himself for not joining Boy Scouts when he was younger. He rested his forehead on her shoulder so he could better see what he was doing.

Her wrists fell right at her pelvis and his fingers accidentally-on purpose slipped from the rope and brushed the fly of her jeans. "This is kinda dirty," he mentioned to lighten the mood.

"Castle."

"Sorry."

He worked his fingers between a gap in the rope and pulled; only to have the bindings dig tighter into her arms. It was worse than a Chinese finger trap. His fingers were getting increasingly sweaty so he sighed and got to his knees to get a better look at it. Using his teeth, he continued to pull; taking all his might to keep from blurting out another innuendo. He finally found the end of the rope and slipped it out of its hold.

"Ah zink ah goh eh," he said with the rope clenched between his teeth. (I think I got it)

"Good," she said, staring at the ceiling.

He twisted his head to get a better angle on the knot and with one strategic pull, the rope fell away.

Beckett sighed with relief and rubbed her red wrists after tossing the rope aside and untying her ankles.

She moved over towards the window and dug Castle's Rolex out of her pocket.

"How much time do we have?" he asked.

She sighed and succumbed to his shenanigans. "Two hours, five minutes."

His eyes grew wide. "That's it?!"

"Castle," she reminded him, "let's focus on the problem at hand."

They stopped when they heard the footsteps above stop at the top of the stairs.

Beckett put a finger to her lips and began to untie him.

Before she could, however, she heard keys jingling and being put in the basement door lock.

She crossed the room to the window and threw it open.

"Wait!" he whispered.

"Don't worry," she assured him, sliding herself outside. She ducked down and put her face through the opening. "I'll be back."

Before he could protest, she took off running.

He let out and exasperated sigh as the deadbolt slid out of place. How could she leave him here to fend for himself? The door opened and someone came down the stairs with a flashlight. It was Amelia.

"Hi?" he said hesitantly; unsure of how to talk to a psychopath. He noticed that Amelia was holding Beckett's gun.

She gave him a cold stare. "You know my secret."

"Um…" he said, trailing off. "What-what secret?"

Amelia's eyes seemed to glow in the darkness and an eerie shadow was cast over the right side of her face. She could be pretty if she wasn't so crazy. "You know too much." Then, she looked around. "Where's your girlfriend?"

Castle swallowed hard; his heart pounding in his chest. "You can't keep me down here forever y'know," he mentioned. "Sooner or later, your parents will come down for a can of beans," he turned his head to the corner where a stack of canned goods sat.

"My parents are dead," she said in a whimsical voice. This chick seriously needed a mental ward.

Castle was still kneeling and therefore helpless as Amelia raised the gun to his temple. She slid a bullet into the chamber; the sound of the click magnified one hundred times in the tiny stone room.

"And soon you will be too," Amelia whispered.

Castle squeezed his eyes shut.

There was a loud bang and he flinched.

Seconds later, he was still breathing and he dared to open one eye.

Beckett was standing over Amelia's lifeless body with a frying pan at her side; having just slammed the girl in the back of the head with it.

Castle let out a strangled laugh. "I've never been so happy to see you."

Beckett helped him to his feet and stooped down to pick up her gun; clicking the safety back on as she slid it into her holster. She cut away his ropes with a knife she had brought from upstairs.

They looked down at Amelia.

"What should we do with her?" asked Castle, prodding her shoulder with his toe. "We can't leave her; what if she wakes up?"

Beckett tapped her foot.

"Should we shoot her?"

"What?!"

"Just kidding. Let's tie her up."

Together, they used the ropes to bind her left wrist to her right ankle and her right wrist to her left one. The point was so when she woke up, there would be no way for her to stand.

"Nice," Castle said, standing back to check out their handiwork.

They high-fived then walked arm in arm out of the Jackson's house.

"You know," said Castle, "we should really start telling people when we decide to go rogue. You'd think we'd learn after the third time."

Beckett hid a smile. "You'd think."

* * *

**00:01:42:09 until the Boom**

After a lashing from Gates about our habit of going in without backup and a threaten to take Beckett's badge if it happens again, they settled down to take care of the paperwork. Well, Beckett did.

Castle, who had gotten his watch back, glanced down at it. "We should really get going…"

She absentmindedly scribbled her name at the bottom of the form and flipped it. "I need to finish this, then we can go." There wound up being three murders total and two cases of attack and kidnapping so there was a nice bit of paperwork to be done.

* * *

**00:01:02:49 until the Boom**

Beckett still wasn't finished and there was nearly an hour left until the Boom. It would take at least a half hour to drive to the bomb shelter and who knows what traffic they'll hit on the way out of the city.

Castle checked the time again and sighed dramatically, tapping his foot.

"Castle," she muttered, putting another page in the done pile. "I can feel your anxiousness and it's not going to get these done any faster."

He looked at his watch.

She set down her pen. "Maybe you'd like to help? Two hands are better than one."

Castle pursed his lips and stood up, sweeping everything into one pile and tossing it in his messenger bag. "You can do these later."

She started to protest. He had just mixed up all of those papers she had worked so hard on.

He put a finger to her lips and led her to the elevator. "The Boom waits for no one."

"Castle, this is ridiculous. You're crazy."

He cocked his head. "Maybe so." He pounded the close button in the elevator and they dropped to the ground floor; thankfully not having to stop on the way there at any other floor thanks to the late hour.

* * *

**00:00:46:23 until the Boom**

Skyscrapers gradually turned to warehouses, then suburbans, then cornfields as they drove further and further away from Manhattan. According to the GPS, they should be at their destination in exactly twenty-one minutes not factoring stops at lights.

The usual city traffic trickled out the more they drove and finally were left with an open road. Castle floored it; edging the Ferrari up to 40,50,60…

They passed the 35 max speed limit sign.

Kate held on to the side door handle for dear life. "Castle, you're going to get us killed!" she shouted over the rushing wind. Her hair whipped around her face as they sped down the street.

Still, he didn't stop accelerating until they reached 80 mph.

To his dismay, he heard a siren come out of nowhere behind them and red-blue flashing lights danced in his rear-view. "Damn it," he muttered, pulling over to the side of the road. He had his license and registration ready for the cop when he approached the car.

Officer Wheeler, according to his badge, leaned on the door; getting his grubby fingerprints all over the Ferrari. "You got any idea how fast you were going?"

Castle gritted his teeth. "Yes."

Officer Wheeler shone his flashlight in their faces. "What are you two kids doing out this late?"

"We're going to a bomb shelter," Castle responded. "Because the world's going to end in forty minutes."

Beckett blushed in embarrassment and looked in the opposite direction.

Officer Wheeler checked Castle's eyes then turned to Beckett. "Is he high?"

"Sadly, no," she responded, handing him her gun license and NYPD badge.

Officer Wheeler took his time writing him up a ticket and slapped it into his hand.

Castle unfolded it. "$2,000?!"

Wheeler tipped his hat to them before backing away to his cruiser. "Have a good one."

Castle crumpled up the ticket and shoved it in the glovebox. "$2,000 my ass."

* * *

**00:00:21:09 until the Boom**

More slowly this time, they drove another ten miles before coming to a stop in the gravel driveway of an old farm. Sheep mingled lazily in the middle of the drive and Castle had to honk the horn to get them to move.

"So where's this bomb shelter?" asked Beckett, roaming around the wide expanse of plowed field with her hands in her pockets.

Castle struggled to keep up; weighed down by his box of supplies. "Just a bit further," he grunted, hefting the box higher in his arms. "Two hundred paces north from that oak."

He carefully counted out his strides before coming to a stop at a metal hatch in the ground. He set the box down, cracked his back, and got a grip on the rusty handle. It took some work, but he eventually got the door open. It creaked as it came up and was heavy as hell; made of three inches of old iron. 1986 was printed on the underside of the door covered in cobwebs.

"That's the year of Pearl Harbor," Kate noted, wiping a hand across the engraving.

"Yeah," Castle said, shining his flashlight into the dark hole below them. A ladder was bolted to one side and they couldn't see the bottom. "A lot of people got paranoid during the cold war's arms race and built shelters like these near them." He tucked the box securely under his arm and tested the rusted ladder. It held firm so he continued down it.

Kate hesitated before following, bringing the hatch down after her and locking it. It was kind of like what she imagined being in a submarine would be like.

They climbed for what felt like eternity before finally dropping to the bottom. Next to the ladder was a lightswitch with ancient wiring that they were both surprised still worked.

Castle flipped the switch and a single bulb sputtered to life; illuminating the tiny room in an orange glow. He got to work; putting candles around the room so they could see better. The floors were made of dirt and clay but the walls and ceilings were reinforced with large wooden beams. A single dusty cot sat in one corner along with a spittoon and a plaid wool blanket.

Kate sat down with a sigh on the cot and a flume of dirt excreted from under the springs as she did. She sank down considerably and the frame creaked under her weight.

With the small white candles flickering around them and the historic surroundings, the place was almost romantic. It was like being in a Hemingway novel.

Kate leaned back so she was resting on her elbows. "So how long do we have to stay here?"

"Just another twenty or so minutes unless something happens," Castle replied. "If it's a nuclear attack, we'll want to stay here for longer until the radiation dies down."

She chewed her lip and twirled a lock of hair around her finger. "Whatever will we do until then?" she asked; her voice low and smooth.

He blew out the flame from the match and flicked it into the corner. He reached into the box and came up with a pack of cards. "We can play go fi-" he began before seeing her spread out on the cot. "Or… y'know we could do whatever you want…" he swallowed hard. "That's cool too."

"Really, Castle?" she purred, wetting her lips. "Are you sure you don't want to play cards anymore?"

He moved to sit next to her. "We can play later. We have…" he looked at his Rolex. "Ten more minutes left until the Boom. I think we can find something more…" he fumbled with the buttons of her shirt. "…_productive_ to do, don't you?"

"Hmmm," she mused, tugging at his collar until their mouths were together. "I don't think fifteen minutes is enough time for me to get my fill." She bit his bottom lip; pulling him closer until there was no space left between them. She hooked a leg around his waist and eased backwards until her head rested on the cot and he was hovering over her.

"We'll take it real slow then," he compromised.

* * *

**00:00:05:00 until the Boom**

He stopped as his watch beeped; giving a five minute warning.

"Castle, focus," Kate reminded him. Her tongue dove deeper into his mouth and she flexed her calves so he pressed harder into her. His toes curled as she ran her fingers through his sweaty hair and moaned in appreciation.

It was hard to be distracted after that.

* * *

**00:00:01:00 until the Boom**

Castle was trying to catch his breath as the Rolex beeped again. One minute left.

He pulled Kate tighter against his side and kissed her forehead. He could feel her heart pounding and her hot breath on his skin gave him chills. As they lay there together, both of their pulses gradually slowing to normal, they pondered what would happen if this really was their last minute on earth.

There were so many things they had planned to do but never got around to: redecorating the loft, going to Hawaii, getting married, having kids. If this Boom really was the end, then they were at least glad that it was spent together.

* * *

**00:00:00:10 until the Boom**

"Kate?"

* * *

**00:00:00:09 until the Boom**

"Yeah?"

* * *

**00:00:00:08 until the Boom**

"I love you."

* * *

**00:00:00:07 until the Boom**

"Rick?"

* * *

**00:00:00:06 until the Boom**

"Hm?"

* * *

**00:00:00:05 until the Boom**

"I love you too."

* * *

**00:00:00:01 until the Boom**

"Always."

"Always."

* * *

**00:00:00:00 until the Boom**


	8. Chapter 8

Ending A

**The Boom**

Kate realized that her eyes were squeezed shut and her face contorted in anticipation. She relaxed her grip on Castle's bicep and dared to peek.

Castle had a slightly constipated look as he waited for the Boom.

She let out a nervous laugh and he opened his eyes.

Castle looked around; confused, before locking gazes with her. "You were totally scared."

Kate frowned and pulled her head away from his shoulder. "I was not."

He gave her a teasing look. "You were too. You actually believed in it for a second there."

She smacked him in the chest. "Shut up, I did not!" She tried to come up with an excuse for her clinging to him during that last minute. "You… you just got me caught up in the moment, that's all." She reached for the old blanket that had been tossed to the ground and covered herself with it.

"Mhmm," he smiled, "sure, Beckett."

Suddenly, there was a deafening thud that shook the entire structure. The force of the impact sent them flying a few feet into the air like they had just jumped on a trampoline; only when they came down, they ate dirt.

Castle landed on his side and rolled onto his back; groaning. Loose dust fell from the ceiling and stung his eyes.

Kate wound up on the other side of the room; leaning up against the wall. "Shit," she muttered, holding her head.

The candles had turned over and sputtered out; thankfully not catching fire to anything else.

Castle pulled himself into sitting position and rubbed his bruised abdomen. His face grew into a smile and he shook with laughter. He wasn't laughing because anything was funny, he was laughing because he was scared and his emotions somehow got completely flip-flopped in his head.

He crawled in the near darkness over to Kate to check if she was all right. He moved her hand from her forehead and found it covered in blood.

She rested her head on the wall and slumped over. "You were right, Castle."

He groped around before finding his shirt and stopped the flow of blood coming from her temple. "I guess my watch was running ahead."

She grimaced every time the cloth touched her wound. "What the hell _was _that?"

He looked towards the ceiling. "No idea. Maybe it was a meteor that hit us and just took out all of Manhattan."

"Or a nuclear bomb," she added, trying to sit up.

"I hope not," Castle sighed, "I don't think we have enough supplies to-"

He stopped and stared at her. His face fell.

Kate's lips were pressed firmly together in a forced frown but the joy in her eyes gave her away.

"You didn't," he groaned.

She doubled over with laughter.

He pointed to the ceiling and then back at her, then at himself; at a loss for words. "How? You, I… I thought?"

Kate clutched her abdomen; her stomach hurting from laughing so much. "You," she gasped, "you totally fell for it! You thought it was the Boom!" She curled up in a ball and rocked back and forth, wiping tears from her eyes.

Castle was appalled. "How did you… the Boom… Aunt Mary… what?" he mimed an explosion with sound effects.

She snorted and continued to literally ROFL. "You don't have an Aunt Mary, Castle," Kate said when she had collected herself for long enough to spit out a few coherent words. "That old woman is in your mom's theater troupe."

"My mom…" his eyes grew wide. "Mother is in on this?!"

"Pretty much everyone is," she confessed. She patted his shoulder and crossed her legs so she was sitting Indian style on the dirt floor. She raised her arm to her forehead and wiped the fake blood from it. "I hired "Aunt Mary" to act all crazy and get you paranoid."

"What about… the explosion? The Boom?" he sputtered.

Kate shrugged. "A series of small scale explosives positioned right outside these walls," she patted the wall. "Sorry, the timing was a little off."

He opened and closed his mouth like a fish and tried to form words. "Why?" was all he managed.

"So the boys would have time to move all of your stuff into our new apartment."

He stared at her; mouth agape. "Did you just say _our _apartment?"

"Yes."

He paused and frowned. "You know you could have just _asked _me to move in with you."

She smiled and punched his arm playfully. "Yeah. But you have to admit this was way more fun."

He couldn't help in when his frown turned to a beaming smile. "It was… but I'm going to get you back one day." With that, he pounced on her; tackling her to the ground.

"Castle!" she gasped as he tickled her stomach. "Castle, stop! Stop, you're gonna make me pee!" She curled her legs up to her chest and tried to push him off her.

"This is what you get!" he laughed, pinning her down.

She giggled and started hyperventilating. "Castle, stop, stop, stop!"

"You're a cruel woman, Kate Beckett," he growled into her ear as he continued to tickle her. She squirmed under him and tried to break free.

"I'm sorry!" she grinned, batting his hands away. "Stop, I'm gonna pee! Castle!"

Finally, he let her up. Her cheeks were bright pink from all the laughing and her naked body glistened with sweat. She stooped down and collected her clothes that were left in a heap on the dirt floor and patted the dust and cobwebs from them before stepping into her jeans.

Castle cast her glances out of the corner of his eye as he got dressed.

She stopped in the middle of buttoning her shirt. "What?"

"This is why I love you, Kate."

She returned his smile. "I love you too, Castle."

"Always."

"Always."

_Fin_

* * *

Ending B

**The Boom**

_BOOM_

The sheer impact sent them flying through the air. The sound was deafening; louder than the loudest explosion they had ever heard. It shook the earth; dirt and rock raining down from the ceiling.

Beckett swore loudly as she hit the opposite wall and slid to the ground; landing on her side.

The quake had stopped and she sat up.

"CASTLE!" she yelled.

He groaned and rolled onto his back; clutching his ribs. "I think I broke something," he muttered, getting to his feet and leaning awkwardly to the side.

Something creaked and moaned above her.

"Look out!" he shouted, tackling her to the ground as a heavy wooden beam came crashing down where she had just been standing.

"Thanks," she muttered, pushing him off of her.

He rubbed his bruised side. "Don't mention it," he gritted his teeth.

"Are you okay?" she asked, running her fingers across his ribs.

He flinched. "No, but I'll manage." His eyes searched her. "You're bleeding," he said, touching her temple where there was a deep gash.

She shook her head and collected her clothes; brushing off the dirt and debris that had collected on them. "I'm fine."

He dabbed at her wound with the blanket.

She stopped in the middle of pulling on her jeans and squinted at him. "Did that really just happen?" she whispered.

He nodded. "Crazy Aunt Mary wasn't so crazy after all."

She couldn't believe it. "That did _not _just happen. Oh my God," she said, the weight of the situation finally dawning on her.

"I know," Castle said, putting on his boxers.

"Oh my God," Kate repeated. She rubbed her forehead. "Oh. My. GOD."

"I _know!_"

"Castle, this is serious," she said sternly.

"I know."

"What do we do?! We don't know what just happened out there; it could be anything."

"Good thing I came prepared for the worst."

She finished buttoning her pants and threw her shirt on haphazardly. She paced the tiny room; carefully picking her way over the debris. She chewed her thumbnail. "Is there a phone number for the Army?" she muttered. She shook her head. "I think we should go see what's going on," she said firmly.

"Okay." He pulled the gas masks out of the supply box and tossed one to her.

She stared down at the grey fabric in her hands. "This is crazy," she muttered.

"The universe is crazy," he replied, taking a hold of the last rung of the ladder and begging his climb.

She took a deep breath and followed after him; scared of what they would find on the surface.

* * *

**00:00:02:27 after the Boom**

Castle adjusted the mask in front of his mouth and made sure he could breathe properly before unlocking the round hatch above him. He looked down to make sure Kate had done the same.

She put her thumb and forefinger together and nodded.

He balanced precariously on the ladder as he turned the wheel to unlock the door. Taking another step up the rung, he used his shoulder to force the hatch open. It creaked loudly as it swung outward before coming to a rest on its rusted hinges.

Castle dragged himself out; grabbing onto the short corn stalks to help him. Once out, he held his hand out for Kate.

They straightened themselves and brushed the dirt from their faces.

* * *

**00:00:03:01 after the Boom**

Turning, they peeled their masks off and looked in the direction of the city.

Kate's jaw dropped. "Holy-"

Castle was equally as shocked. "Mother of-"

All of Manhattan was in ruins; the skyscrapers blown to oblivion. The only hint of the city's existence was a few contorted skeletons of the most soundly constructed buildings sticking out from the ashes where trees and other houses used to be. The skyline looked like a graveyard; the few remaining buildings were headstones smoldering in the aftermath. The sky was a sick tinge of green-orange and a colossal mushroom cloud hovered above the city like a dark halo.

Neither of them knew what exactly had happened that day, who or what had caused it, or why. All that was certain was that there were no survivors.

_Fin._

* * *

**So which ending did you like better? Let me know! Here's to those awesome weirdo readers who for some strange reason desperately wanted the Boom to happen.**


End file.
